Article VII

Article VII General Legal Provisions Section 171 Except as provided in this Compact, as amended, or its related agreements, the application of the laws of the United States to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands by virtue of the Trusteeship Agreement ceased with respect to the Federated States of Micronesia on November 3, 1986, the date the Compact went into effect.Section 172117 STAT. 2768 (a) Every citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia who is not a resident of the United States shall enjoy the rights and remedies under the laws of the United States enjoyed by any non-resident alien. (b) The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia and every citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia shall be considered to be a “person” within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, and of the judicial review provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 701–706, except that only the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia may seek judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act or judicial enforcement under the Freedom of Information Act when such judicial review or enforcement relates to the activities of the Government of the United States governed by sections 161 and 162.Section 173 The Governments of the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia agree to adopt and enforce such measures, consistent with this Compact, as amended, and its related agreements, as may be necessary to protect the personnel, property, installations, services, programs and official archives and documents maintained by the Government of the United States in the Federated States of Micronesia pursuant to this Compact, as amended, and its related agreements and by the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia in the United States pursuant to this Compact, as amended, and its related agreements.Section 174 Except as otherwise provided in this Compact, as amended, and its related agreements:(a) The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia, and its agencies and officials, shall be immune from the jurisdiction of the court of the United States, and the Government of the United States, and its agencies and officials, shall be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the Federated States of Micronesia.(b) The Government of the United States accepts responsibility for and shall pay:(1) any unpaid money judgment rendered by the High Court of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands against the Government of the United States with regard to any cause of action arising as a result of acts or omissions of the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands or the Government of the United States prior to November 3, 1986;(2) any claim settled by the claimant and the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands but not paid as of the November 3, 1986; and(3) settlement of any administrative claim or of any action before a court of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands or the Government of the United States, arising as a result of acts or omissions of the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands or the Government of the United States.(c) Any claim not referred to in section 174(b) and arising from an act or omission of the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands or the Government of the United 117 STAT. 2769 States prior to the effective date of the Compact shall be adjudicated in the same manner as a claim adjudicated according to section 174(d). In any claim against the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Government of the United States shall stand in the place of the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. A judgment on any claim referred to in section 174(b) or this subsection, not otherwise satisfied by the Government of the United States, may be presented for certification to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, or its successor courts, which shall have jurisdiction therefore, notwithstanding the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 1502, and which court’s decisions shall be reviewable as provided by the laws of the United States. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall certify such judgment, and order payment thereof, unless it finds, after a hearing, that such judgment is manifestly erroneous as to law or fact, or manifestly excessive. In either of such cases the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall have jurisdiction to modify such judgment.(d) The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States, and the Government of the United States shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the Federated States of Micronesia in any civil case in which an exception to foreign state immunity is set forth in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (28 U.S.C. 1602 et seq.) or its successor statutes.Section 175 (a) A separate agreement, which shall come into effect simultaneously with this Compact, as amended, and shall have the force of law, shall govern mutual assistance and cooperation in law enforcement matters, including the pursuit, capture, imprisonment and extradition of fugitives from justice and the transfer of prisoners, as well as other law enforcement matters. In the United States, the laws of the United States governing international extradition, including 18 U.S.C. 3184, 3186 and 3188–95, shall be applicable to the extradition of fugitives under the separate agreement, and the laws of the United States governing the transfer of prisoners, including 18 U.S.C. 4100–15, shall be applicable to the transfer of prisoners under the separate agreement; and (b) A separate agreement, which shall come into effect simultaneously with this Compact, as amended, and shall have the force of law, shall govern requirements relating to labor recruitment practices, including registration, reporting, suspension or revocation of authorization to recruit persons for employment in the United States, and enforcement for violations of such requirements.Section 176 The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia confirms that final judgments in civil cases rendered by any court of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands shall continue in full force and effect, subject to the constitutional power of the courts of the Federated States of Micronesia to grant relief from judgments in appropriate cases.Section 177 Section 177 of the Compact entered into force with respect to the Federated States of Micronesia on November 3, 1986 as follows:117 STAT. 2770 “(a) The Government of the United States accepts the responsibility for compensation owing to citizens of the Marshall Islands, or the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau for loss or damage to property and person of the citizens of the Marshall Islands, or the Federated States of Micronesia, resulting from the nuclear testing program which the Government of the United States conducted in the Northern Marshall Islands between June 30, 1946, and August 18, 1958. “(b) The Government of the United States and the Government of the Marshall Islands shall set forth in a separate agreement provisions for the just and adequate settlement of all such claims which have arisen in regard to the Marshall Islands and its citizens and which have not as yet been compensated or which in the future may arise, for the continued administration by the Government of the United States of direct radiation related medical surveillance and treatment programs and radiological monitoring activities and for such additional programs and activities as may be mutually agreed, and for the assumption by the Government of the Marshall Islands of responsibility for enforcement of limitations on the utilization of affected areas developed in cooperation with the Government of the United States and for the assistance by the Government of the United States in the exercise of such responsibility as may be mutually agreed. This separate agreement shall come into effect simultaneously with this Compact and shall remain in effect in accordance with its own terms. “(c) The Government of the United States shall provide to the Government of the Marshall Islands, on a grant basis, the amount of $150 million to be paid and distributed in accordance with the separate agreement referred to in this Section, and shall provide the services and programs set forth in this separate agreement, the language of which is incorporated into this Compact.”. The Compact, as amended, makes no changes to, and has no effect upon, Section 177 of the Compact, nor does the Compact, as amended, change or affect the separate agreement referred to in Section 177 of the Compact including Articles IX and X of that separate agreement, and measures taken by the parties thereunder.Section 178 (a) The Federal agencies of the Government of the United States that provide the services and related programs in the Federated States of Micronesia pursuant to Title Two are authorized to settle and pay tort claims arising in the Federated States of Micronesia from the activities of such agencies or from the acts or omissions of the employees of such agencies. Except as provided in section 178(b), the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 2672 and 31 U.S.C. 1304 shall apply exclusively to such administrative settlements and payments. (b) Claims under section 178(a) that cannot be settled under section 178(a) shall be disposed of exclusively in accordance with Article II of Title Four. Arbitration awards rendered pursuant to this subsection shall be paid out of funds under 31 U.S.C. 1304. (c) The Government of the United States and the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia shall, in the separate agreement referred to in section 231, provide for:117 STAT. 2771 (1) the administrative settlement of claims referred to in section 178(a), including designation of local agents in each State of the Federated States of Micronesia; such agents to be empowered to accept, investigate and settle such claims, in a timely manner, as provided in such separate agreements; and (2) arbitration, referred to in section 178(b), in a timely manner, at a site convenient to the claimant, in the event a claim is not otherwise settled pursuant to section 178(a). (d) The provisions of section 174(d) shall not apply to claims covered by this section. (e) Except as otherwise explicitly provided by law of the United States, neither the Government of the United States, its instrumentalities, nor any person acting on behalf of the Government of the United States, shall be named a party in any action based on, or arising out of, the activity or activities of a recipient of any grant or other assistance provided by the Government of the United States (or the activity or activities of the recipient’s agency or any other person or entity acting on behalf of the recipient).Section 179 (a) The courts of the Federated States of Micronesia shall not exercise criminal jurisdiction over the Government of the United States, or its instrumentalities. (b) The courts of the Federated States of Micronesia shall not exercise criminal jurisdiction over any person if the Government of the United States provides notification to the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia that such person was acting on behalf of the Government of the United States, for actions taken in furtherance of section 221 or 224 of this amended Compact, or any other provision of law authorizing financial, program, or service assistance to the Federated States of Micronesia.