18 U.S.C. § 2281 — Violence against maritime fixed platforms
submitted 32 years ago by Pub. L. 103-322 to r/title-18-CRIMES-AND-CRIMINAL-PROCEDURE · 635 words · no verdicts yet
This section criminalizes intentional violence, seizure, damage, dangerous devices, injury, death, attempts, conspiracies, and threats involving maritime fixed platforms. It sets jurisdiction, definitions, and exceptions.
(a) Offenses. A person who unlawfully and intentionally: (1)(A) seizes or controls a fixed platform by force, threat, or intimidation; (B) commits violence aboard likely to endanger its safety; (C) destroys or damages it likely to endanger its safety; (D) places on it a device or substance likely to destroy it or endanger its safety; (E) injures or kills someone while committing or attempting (A)–(D); or (F) attempts or conspires to do anything in (A)–(E), may be fined, imprisoned up to 20 years, or both. If death results, the punishment is death or imprisonment for any number of years or life. (2) A determined threat to commit (B) or (C), when likely to endanger the platform, may be fined, imprisoned up to 5 years, or both.
(b) Jurisdiction. It exists if the activity is against or aboard a platform on the U.S. continental shelf; on another country’s continental shelf and committed by a U.S. national or U.S.-habitual stateless person; or done to compel the United States to act or not act; if a U.S. national is seized, threatened, injured, or killed during activity against a platform on a continental shelf; or if activity against a platform outside the United States and beyond its shelf is committed and the offender is later found in the United States.
(c) Bar. Federal prosecution is barred for U.S. conduct during or related to a labor dispute that is a State-law felony. “Labor dispute” has the meaning in 29 U.S.C. 113(c); this section does not define it. “State” means a U.S. State, the District of Columbia, and any U.S. commonwealth, territory, or possession.
(d) Definitions. “Continental shelf” means the seabed and subsoil beyond a country’s territorial sea to the limits of customary international law reflected in Article 76 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. “Fixed platform” means an artificial island, installation, or structure permanently attached to the seabed for resource exploration or exploitation or another economic purpose.
(e) Exceptions. The section does not apply to armed-forces activities during armed conflict governed by the law of war or state military forces acting officially.
A person who unlawfully and intentionally—
seizes or exercises control over a fixed platform by force or threat thereof or any other form of intimidation;
performs an act of violence against a person on board a fixed platform if that act is likely to endanger its safety;
destroys a fixed platform or causes damage to it which is likely to endanger its safety;
places or causes to be placed on a fixed platform, by any means whatsoever, a device or substance which is likely to destroy that fixed platform or likely to endanger its safety;
injures or kills any person in connection with the commission or the attempted commission of any of the offenses set forth in subparagraphs (A) through (D); or
attempts or conspires to do anything prohibited under subparagraphs (A) through (E),
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this paragraph, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
A person who threatens to do anything prohibited under paragraph (1)(B) or (C), with apparent determination and will to carry the threat into execution, if the threatened act is likely to endanger the safety of the fixed platform, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
There is jurisdiction over the activity prohibited in subsection (a) if—
such activity is committed against or on board a fixed platform—
that is located on the continental shelf of the United States;
that is located on the continental shelf of another country, by a national of the United States or by a stateless person whose habitual residence is in the United States; or
in an attempt to compel the United States to do or abstain from doing any act;
during the commission of such activity against or on board a fixed platform located on a continental shelf, a national of the United States is seized, threatened, injured or killed; or
such activity is committed against or on board a fixed platform located outside the United States and beyond the continental shelf of the United States and the offender is later found in the United States.
It is a bar to Federal prosecution under subsection (a) for conduct that occurred within the United States that the conduct involved was during or in relation to a labor dispute, and such conduct is prohibited as a felony under the law of the State in which it was committed. For purposes of this section, the term “labor dispute” has the meaning set forth in section 13(c) of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, as amended (29 U.S.C. 113(c)), and the term “State” means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.
In this section—
“continental shelf” means the sea-bed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond a country’s territorial sea to the limits provided by customary international law as reflected in Article 76 of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“fixed platform” means an artificial island, installation or structure permanently attached to the sea-bed for the purpose of exploration or exploitation of resources or for other economic purposes.
This section does not apply to—
the activities of armed forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under the law of war, which are governed by that law; or
activities undertaken by military forces of a state in the exercise of their official duties.
Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 103–322, title VI, § 60019(a), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1977; amended Pub. L. 104–132, title VII, § 723(a)(1), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1300; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 607(p), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3513; Pub. L. 114–23, title VIII, § 803, June 2, 2015, 129 Stat. 307.)
- 1994Enacted · Pub. L. 103-322 · 108 Stat. 1977
- 1996Amended · Pub. L. 104-132 · 110 Stat. 1300
- 1996Amended · Pub. L. 104-294 · 110 Stat. 3513
- 2015Amended · Pub. L. 114-23 · 129 Stat. 307
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 103-322 on 1994-09-13.
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