Historically, private contractors and other civilians who have accompanied the armed forces have not been subject to the military justice process or criminal prosecution. America’s Federal criminal jurisdiction has generally ended at the Nation’s borders, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice only applied to civilians in combat areas during periods of war declared by Congress. Prior to the enactment of MEJA, this meant that most civilians accompanying the armed forces in such places as Iraq or Afghanistan who committed crimes in a host country could not be brought to justice, at least not by the U.S. justice system. Although most foreign nations have jurisdiction to prosecute violations of their law committed by U.S. citizens, they frequently decline to exercise that jurisdiction when an American is the victim of the crime or when the crime involves only property owned by Americans. MEJA is designed to address this gap in U.S. jurisdiction over crimes committed by U.S. citizens overseas. MEJA created a new Federal crime for felonies (crimes punishable by more than 1 year imprisonment) committed “within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States” occurring overseas. This means that criminal charges can be brought in the United States against civilians employed by the armed forces, family member dependents accompanying the armed forces overseas, and former members of the armed forces who commit a crime while in the military, but who are no longer subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice when they commit crimes overseas that would have been Federal felonies in the United States. 17 notes