---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 70505"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "70505"
heading: "Failure to comply with international law as a defense"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/70505"
units:
  - "Subtitle VII — Security and Drug Enforcement"
  - "Chapter 705 — Maritime Drug Law Enforcement"
---

# §70505. Failure to comply with international law as a defense


A person charged with violating [section 70503 of this title](/usc/46/70503.md), or against whom a civil enforcement proceeding is brought under [section 70508](/usc/46/70508.md), 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.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 10(2), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1688; Pub. L. 110–407, title II, § 202(b)(3), Oct. 13, 2008, 122 Stat. 4300.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (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. |

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2008—Pub. L. 110–407 substituted “this title, or against whom a civil enforcement proceeding is brought under section 70508,” for “this title”.