[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6714 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6714

 To provide remote access to court proceedings for victims of the 1988 
         Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 11, 2023

  Mr. Van Drew (for himself, Mr. Nadler, and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide remote access to court proceedings for victims of the 1988 
         Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REMOTE ACCESS TO COURT PROCEEDINGS FOR VICTIMS OF THE 1988 
              BOMBING OF PAN AM FLIGHT 103 OVER LOCKERBIE, SCOTLAND.

    (a) Definition of Victim of Crimes Associated With the Bombing of 
Pan Am Flight 103.--In this section:
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the term 
        ``victim of crimes associated with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 
        103'' means any individual--
                    (A) who suffered direct or proximate harm as a 
                result of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that 
                occurred over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 
                1988, and was present at or near the scene of the 
                bombing when it occurred, or immediately thereafter; or
                    (B) who is the spouse, legal guardian, parent, 
                child, brother, sister, next of kin, or other relative 
                of, or who is determined by the applicable district 
                court of the United States to be an individual who 
                possesses a relationship of similar significance to, an 
                individual described in subparagraph (A) or an 
                individual otherwise described in this subsection.
            (2) Limitation.--The term ``victim of crimes associated 
        with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103'' does not include an 
        individual who participated or conspired in the crimes 
        associated with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
    (b) Authorization.--
            (1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this 
        Act, and notwithstanding any provision of the Federal Rules of 
        Criminal Procedure or other law or rule to the contrary, in 
        order to permit victims of crimes associated with the bombing 
        of Pan Am Flight 103 to access court proceedings in the 
        criminal case against Abu Agila Mohammed Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi 
        and against any co-conspirator subsequently charged and 
        prosecuted in a court of the United States for crimes related 
        to the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the district court of 
        the United States in such a case shall order that reasonable 
        efforts be made to make remote video and telephonic access to 
        proceedings in the case available to victims of crimes 
        associated with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
            (2) No limit on location.--Remote video and telephonic 
        access to proceedings shall be made available under paragraph 
        (1) to a victim of crimes associated with the bombing of Pan Am 
        Flight 103 without regard to the location of the victim of 
        crimes associated with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
    (c) District Court Discretion.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to eliminate or limit the discretion of a district court of 
the United States to control the manner, circumstances, or availability 
of remote video or telephonic transmissions where necessary to control 
the courtroom or protect the integrity of court proceedings or the 
safety of parties, witnesses, or other participants in the proceedings.
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