46 U.S.C. § 70505
Section 70505 · Failure to comply with international law as a defense
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 275 court decisions — leading case United States v. Ramirez (2005)
Most recently applied in United States v. Carlos Daniel Canario-Vilomar (February 2025)
Applied most in the First Circuit Circuit (105 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 21 U.S.C. § 955A · 18 U.S.C. § 2 · 21 U.S.C. § 960
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 person charged with violating section 70503 of this title, or against whom a civil enforcement proceeding is brought under section 70508, does not have standing to raise a claim of failure to comply with international law as a basis for a defense. A claim of failure to comply with international law in the enforcement of this chapter may be made only by a foreign nation. A failure to comply with international law does not divest a court of jurisdiction and is not a defense to a proceeding under this chapter.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 70505 46 App.:1903(d). Pub. L. 96–350, §3(d), Sept. 15, 1980, 94 Stat. 1160; Pub. L. 99–570, title III, §3202, Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207–96; Pub. L. 99–640, §17, Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3553; Pub. L. 104–324, §1138(a)(4), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3989. Amendments 2008—Pub. L. 110–407 substituted “this title, or against whom a civil enforcement proceeding is brought under section 70508,” for “this title”.