Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-102

§288a Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities of International Organizations

Title 22 › CHAPTER 7 — INTERNATIONAL BUREAUS, CONGRESSES, ETC. › SUBCHAPTER XVIII — PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS › § 288a

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

International organizations have three main powers: they can make contracts, buy or sell real or personal property, and start legal cases in court. They and their property get the same protection from lawsuits and court actions that foreign governments get, unless the organization clearly gives up that protection. Their property is protected from searches and from being seized, and their archives must be kept private. For import taxes, customs rules, foreign‑agent registration, and official communications, they get the same treatment as foreign governments.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §288a

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

International organizations shall enjoy the status, immunities, exemptions, and privileges set forth in this section, as follows:

(a)International organizations shall, to the extent consistent with the instrument creating them, possess the capacity—

(i)to contract;

(ii)to acquire and dispose of real and personal property;

(iii)to institute legal proceedings.

(b)International organizations, their property and their assets, wherever located, and by whomsoever held, shall enjoy the same immunity from suit and every form of judicial process as is enjoyed by foreign governments, except to the extent that such organizations may expressly waive their immunity for the purpose of any proceedings or by the terms of any contract.

(c)Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable.

(d)Insofar as concerns customs duties and internal-revenue taxes imposed upon or by reason of importation, and the procedures in connection therewith; the registration of foreign agents; and the treatment of official communications, the privileges, exemptions, and immunities to which international organizations shall be entitled shall be those accorded under similar circumstances to foreign governments.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 288a

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102