28 U.S.C. § 597
Section 597 · Relationship with Department of Justice
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 18 court decisions — leading case United States v. Wallach (1991)
Most recently applied in In re Grand Jury Investigation (July 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Suspension of Other Investigations and Proceedings.—Whenever a matter is in the prosecutorial jurisdiction of an independent counsel or has been accepted by an independent counsel under section 594(e), the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, and all other officers and employees of the Department of Justice shall suspend all investigations and proceedings regarding such matter, except to the extent required by section 594(d)(1), and except insofar as such independent counsel agrees in writing that such investigation or proceedings may be continued by the Department of Justice.
(b) Presentation as Amicus Curiae Permitted.—Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the Attorney General or the Solicitor General from making a presentation as amicus curiae to any court as to issues of law raised by any case or proceeding in which an independent counsel participates in an official capacity or any appeal of such a case or proceeding.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1987—Pub. L. 100–191 amended section generally, substituting provisions relating to relationship with Department of Justice for substantially similar provisions.
1983—Pub. L. 97–409, §2(a)(1)(A), substituted “independent counsel” for “special prosecutor” wherever appearing.
Effective Date of 1987 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–191 effective Dec. 15, 1987, and applicable to proceedings initiated and independent counsels appointed on and after Dec. 15, 1987, see section 6 of Pub. L. 100–191, set out as a note under section 591 of this title.