18 U.S.C. § 3507
Section 3507 · Special master at foreign deposition
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case State v. Hall (1983)
Most recently applied in United States v. Atiyeh (March 2005)
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.
Upon application of a party to a criminal case, a United States district court before which the case is pending may, to the extent permitted by a foreign country, appoint a special master to carry out at a deposition taken in that country such duties as the court may direct, including presiding at the deposition or serving as an advisor on questions of United States law. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a special master appointed under this section shall not decide questions of privilege under foreign law. The refusal of a court to appoint a special master under this section, or of the foreign country to permit a special master appointed under this section to carry out a duty at a deposition in that country, shall not affect the admissibility in evidence of a deposition taken under the provisions of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Effective Date
Section effective 30 days after Oct. 12, 1984, see section 1220 of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 3505 of this title.