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Fabio 76b8ec33a7 Legal corpus: the complete U.S. Code (59,740 sections, all 53 titles)
Ingested titles 12–51 and 54 from OLRC USLM XML @119-100 (the whole Code
now, uniform edition; Title 53 is reserved/empty). LegalText 11,221 ->
59,740; repo total 105,704 records. Deterministic (byte-identical rerun,
verified on Title 42's 8,356 sections); make check green. make
legal-us-code default now covers every title.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-06 10:51:44 -04:00

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---
type: "LegalText"
title: "28 U.S.C. § 1603"
description: "Definitions"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 28
title_name: "JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE"
chapter_number: "97"
chapter_name: "JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITIES OF FOREIGN STATES"
section: "1603"
citation: "28 U.S.C. § 1603"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc28@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t28/s1603"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-28/usc28.xml"
source_hash: "f82f97297949ce2b97aebef770b8cdb09a7e1c070b33a162ed28955326099ec2"
raw_snapshot_hash: "3390f867a2c02f5d0c496269da780795fe19663a090a3040c64a9ee0a541cdcf"
text_hash: "eb7dccd2ce0b05d2d435051eabca2161de91423bd79835f3c1f8914c0f72a85e"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---
# 28 U.S.C. § 1603 - Definitions
## Text
For purposes of this chapter—
(a) A “foreign state”, except as used in section 1608 of this title, includes a political subdivision of a foreign state or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state as defined in subsection (b).
(b) An “agency or instrumentality of a foreign state” means any entity—
(1) which is a separate legal person, corporate or otherwise, and
(2) which is an organ of a foreign state or political subdivision thereof, or a majority of whose shares or other ownership interest is owned by a foreign state or political subdivision thereof, and
(3) which is neither a citizen of a State of the United States as defined in section 1332 (c) and (e) of this title, nor created under the laws of any third country.
(c) The “United States” includes all territory and waters, continental or insular, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(d) A “commercial activity” means either a regular course of commercial conduct or a particular commercial transaction or act. The commercial character of an activity shall be determined by reference to the nature of the course of conduct or particular transaction or act, rather than by reference to its purpose.
(e) A “commercial activity carried on in the United States by a foreign state” means commercial activity carried on by such state and having substantial contact with the United States.
(Added Pub. L. 94583, § 4(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2892; amended Pub. L. 1092, § 4(b)(2), Feb. 18, 2005, 119 Stat. 12.)
## Notes
Editorial Notes
Amendments2005—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 1092 substituted “(e)” for “(d)”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2005 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 1092 applicable to any civil action commenced on or after Feb. 18, 2005, see section 9 of Pub. L. 1092, set out as a note under section 1332 of this title.
Effective DateSection effective 90 days after Oct. 21, 1976, see section 8 of Pub. L. 94583, set out as a note under section 1602 of this title.