Oklahoma Enacts Legislation to Curb Foreign Influence in Courts with Transparency Mandate

Oklahoma is setting up legal barricades against foreign interference in its courts, with Governor endorsing the freshly minted House Bill 2619—dubbed the Foreign Litigation Funding Prevention Act—which proactively shields the state's legal system from external manipulation by mandating disclosure in civil litigation proceedings of any international financial backers, an act authored by Rep. Erick Harris, R-Edmond, as reported by the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

The specifics of the bill are direct, necessitating parties in the midst of litigation to come clean about their financial underpinnings: they've gotta spill if there’s foreign cash in the kitty, with an eye on preventing foreign governments or their entities from having their fingers in Oklahoma's legal pie, the law demands they reveal if foreign government or their entities are have been or will be involved in such funding arrangements, an effort to maintain the courts' integrity—a move Harris was quoted saying will preserve the "sanctity of our courts and keep them free from corruption by foreign powers seeking to manipulate outcomes for their own gain" according to the same Oklahoma House of Representatives news release.

Oklahoma Enacts Legislation to Curb Foreign Influence in Courts with