Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act of 2024”.
Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act of 2024
AN ACT
To amend title 28, United States Code, to limit the availability of civil actions affected by United States sanctions, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Statement of policy
It is the policy of the United States—
to ensure that United States persons are not disadvantaged for actions or omissions undertaken to comply with United States sanctions and export controls; and
to ensure that foreign persons, or those acting on their behalf, cannot obtain compensation for any action directly or indirectly related to United States persons attempting in good faith to comply with their obligations under United States sanctions.
Sec. 3 Limitation on civil actions affected by United States sanctions
In general— Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“1660. Limitation on civil actions affected by United States sanctions
“(a) Limitation—Notwithstanding any provision of law, a person may not bring a civil action in Federal court to obtain relief for a claim where—
“(1) the underlying conduct or circumstances giving rise to the claim resulted from the imposition of United States sanctions impeding the performance of a contract (whether directly or indirectly, or in whole or in part); and
“(2) the United States sanctions described in paragraph (1) went into effect after the date on which the contract was executed.
“(b) Rule of construction—Nothing in this section may be construed to limit—
“(1) the authority of the President, or any delegate of the President (including the Office of Foreign Asset Control of the Department of the Treasury), to restrict or authorize legal services, to enter into a settlement agreement, or to enforce any lien, judgment, arbitral award, decree, or other order through execution, garnishment, or other judicial process; or
“(2) any right, remedy, or cause of action available to a victim of international terrorism, torture, extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, or hostage taking, who is, or was at the time of the victim’s injury, a national of the United States, a member of the United States Armed Forces, an employee of the United States Government, or an individual performing a contract awarded by the United States Government acting within the scope of their employment, or a family member of any such victim, under any applicable State or Federal law, including—
“(A) chapter 97 of this title;
“(B) chapter 113B of title 18; and
“(C) the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et seq.), and any other laws providing for the application of sanctions with respect to Iran or Syria.
“(c) United States sanctions defined—In this section, the term United States sanctions means any prohibition, restriction, or condition on transactions involving property in which any foreign country or national thereof has an interest that is imposed by the United States to address threats to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States pursuant to—
“(1) section 203 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702); or
“(2) any other provision of law, including any export controls.”