A Visiting Forces Act is a law governing the status of military personnel while they are visiting within areas under the jurisdiction of another country and/or while forces of one country are attached to or serving with forces of another country, and may also apply to some foreign nonmilitary persons who are associated with visiting military forces (e.g., dependents, civilian employees, etc.). Such acts commonly address such issues as criminal jurisdiction, treatment of apprehended individuals found to be foreign military personnel who are absent without leave or military deserters, double jeopardy situations, etc. Individual Visiting Forces Acts enacted by individual governments may address such issues directly, or may act as enabling legislation so that separate Visiting Forces Agreements between a host country and other countries may attain the force of law. Depending on the legislative climate in the host country, such enabling legislation may or may not be necessary.
Famous quotes containing the words visiting, forces and/or act:
“For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you.”
—Bible: Hebrew Deuteronomy, 6:15.
The words are also found in Exodus 20:5, referring to the second commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image ... for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”
“There will be no greater burden on our generation than to organize the forces of liberty in our time in order to make our quest of a new freedom for America.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“When a uniform exercise of kindness to prisoners on our part has been returned by as uniform severity on the part of our enemies, you must excuse me for saying it is high time, by other lessons, to teach respect to the dictates of humanity; in such a case, retaliation becomes an act of benevolence.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)