1997 Report of the Overseas Jurisdiction Advisory Committee
A decade ago Congress established an advisory committee to examine the very issues of contractor liability in war zones abroad that have recently been in the headlines again.
The Overseas Jurisdiction Advisory Committee spent a year analyzing the state of the law, found “significant jurisdictional gaps” in the government’s ability to prosecute crimes committed abroad by contractors, and recommended legislative remedies.
The Committee’s extensive report (pdf) laid the foundation for the 2000 Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which applied to defense contractors, and which would be extended by now-pending legislation to non-defense contractors as well.
Up to now, the Committee’s report has not been available online, rendering it practically inaccessible. A copy of the report obtained by Secrecy News is now available on the Federation of American Scientists web site.
See the Report of the Advisory Committee on Criminal Law Jurisdiction Over Civilians Accompanying the Armed Forces in Time of Armed Conflict (Overseas Jurisdiction Advisory Committee), April 1997.
Commercial artificial intelligence tools have recently emerged that are able to produce police reports. If the resulting reports are inaccurate, incomplete or biased, or if the process leaks confidential information, this could undermine the criminal justice system and harm citizens.
Too often, affected patients, clinicians, and regulators cannot see how the system works, why a decision was made, or whether meaningful human oversight occurred.
Existing tools from other domains, such as existing robust public engagement processes in drug development, when applied to AI deployment can help strengthen public trust in these systems and enhance perceptions of their legitimacy and the decisions they produce.
With thoughtful policy action, it is still possible to build systems that are fair, transparent, and accountable, and to earn the public trust that will ultimately determine AI’s future. We hope policymakers are ready to act.