There was a time was when there was no special limitation on non-U.S. parties bringing claims in U.S. courts for treble damages for violations of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act of 1970, 18 U.S.C 1964(c), other than ordinary jurisdictional requirements.
In European Community v. RJR Nabisco, 579 U.S. 325, 334 (2016), however, the U.S. Supreme Court—applying the presumption against extraterritoriality as a canon of construction under which, “in the absence of congressional intent to the contrary, federal law will be construed to have only domestic application”—limited the extent to which foreign parties may obtain civil damages under RICO. It did not apply the presumption to the extraterritorial application of RICO in criminal cases, but found it to be applicable to RICO Section 1964(c), which permits lawsuits for the recovery of treble damages and attorney fees for persons injured by violations of RICO.
