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Executive Order 12846 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.06) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 12846—Additional Measures With Respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)

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Sunday, April 25, 1993
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4 min read (868 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (868 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order: (a) All property and interests in property of all commercial, industrial, or public utility undertakings or entities organized or located in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), including, without limitation, the property and interests in property of entities (wherever organized or located) owned or controlled by such undertakings or entities, that are in the United States…

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President William J. Clinton on April 25, 1993, this order concerns Additional Measures With Respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). Notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order: (a) All property and interests in property of all commercial…

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order: (a) All property and interests in property of all commercial, industrial, or public utility undertakings or entities organized or located in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), including, without limitation, the property and interests in property of entities (wherever organized or located) owned or controlled by such undertakings or entities, that are in the United States…

▪

Such property may also be sold or liquidated and the proceeds placed in a blocked interest-bearing account in the name of the owner; (c) All vessels, freight vehicles, rolling stock, aircraft and cargo that are within or hereafter come within the United States and are not subject to blocking under Executive Order Nos. 12808, 12810, 12831 or this order, but which are suspected of a violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution Nos. 713, 757, 787 or 820, shall be detained pending investigation and, upon a determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that they have been in violation of any of these resolutions, shall be blocked.

▪

Such blocked conveyances and cargo may also be sold or liquidated and the proceeds placed in a blocked interest-bearing account in the name of the owner; (d) No vessel registered in the United States or owned or controlled by United States persons, other than a United States naval vessel, may enter the territorial waters of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro); and (e) Any dealing by a United States person relating to the importation from, exportation to, or transshipment through the United Nations Protected Areas in the Republic of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina under the control of Bosnian Serb forces, or activity of any kind that promotes or is intended to promote such dealing, is…

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The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United Nations Participation Act as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
64 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

High Friction

Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

High Friction

Scrutinized under the Bill of Rights for potential impact on private contracts, property rights, or procedural due process.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
868
5,368 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.3
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.06
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (7 sections)

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, in view of United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 757 of May 30, 1992, No. 787 of November 16, 1992, and No. 820 of April 17, 1993, and in order to take additional steps with respect to the actions and policies of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the national emergency described and declared in Executive Order No. 12808 and expanded in Executive Order No. 12810 and No. 12831, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, hereby order:

Section 1. #sec-1

Notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order: (a) All property and interests in property of all commercial, industrial, or public utility undertakings or entities organized or located in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), including, without limitation, the property and interests in property of entities (wherever organized or located) owned or controlled by such undertakings or entities, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, including their overseas branches, are hereby blocked; (b) All expenses incident to the blocking and maintenance of property blocked under Executive Order Nos. 12808, 12810, 12831 or this order shall be charged to the owners or operators of such property, which expenses shall not be met from blocked funds. Such property may also be sold or liquidated and the proceeds placed in a blocked interest-bearing account in the name of the owner; (c) All vessels, freight vehicles, rolling stock, aircraft and cargo that are within or hereafter come within the United States and are not subject to blocking under Executive Order Nos. 12808, 12810, 12831 or this order, but which are suspected of a violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution Nos. 713, 757, 787 or 820, shall be detained pending investigation and, upon a determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that they have been in violation of any of these resolutions, shall be blocked. Such blocked conveyances and cargo may also be sold or liquidated and the proceeds placed in a blocked interest-bearing account in the name of the owner; (d) No vessel registered in the United States or owned or controlled by United States persons, other than a United States naval vessel, may enter the territorial waters of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro); and (e) Any dealing by a United States person relating to the importation from, exportation to, or transshipment through the United Nations Protected Areas in the Republic of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina under the control of Bosnian Serb forces, or activity of any kind that promotes or is intended to promote such dealing, is prohibited.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United Nations Participation Act as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate the authority set forth in this order to other officers and agencies of the Federal Government, all agencies of which are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order, including suspension or termination of licenses or other authorizations in effect as of the date of this order.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Nothing in this order shall apply to activities related to the United Nations Protection Force, the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, and the European Community Monitor Mission.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

The definitions contained in section 5 of Executive Order No. 12810 apply to the terms used in this order.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

Nothing contained in this order shall create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

Sec. 6. #sec-6

This order shall not affect the provisions of licenses and authorizations issued pursuant to Executive Order Nos. 12808, 12810, 12831 and in force on the effective date of this order, except as such licenses or authorization may hereafter be terminated, modified or suspended by the issuing federal agency.

Sec. 7. #sec-7

(a) This order shall take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, April 26, 1993. (b) This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register. William J. Clinton

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

April 25, 1993.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12,846 (Apr. 25, 1993), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12846-additional-measures-with-respect-the-federal-republic-yugoslavia.