The passive personality principle is a basis for extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction under which a state claims authority to prosecute a foreign national for crimes committed outside its borders when the victim is one of its own citizens or nationals. Unlike the active personality principle — which requires the perpetrator to be a citizen — passive personality focuses on the nationality of the victim. U.S. law applies this doctrine in specific statutes, including 18 U.S.C. § 2332, which covers conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals abroad. Courts and scholars debate its scope under international law, but it has been upheld in U.S. federal cases involving terrorism and state-sponsored violence against Americans.