Cite as: 520 U. S. 939 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
courts to hear qui tam claims and did not affect the substantive liability of qui tam defendants. 63 F. 3d 1512, 1517 (1995). The court further determined that the action was not barred under the 1986 version of the Act because no "public disclosure" of information possessed by the Government had been made. Id., at 1518. Finally, the court reversed in part and remanded for further consideration on the merits, holding that a material factual dispute existed as to whether Hughes had made misleading and incomplete disclosures about its commonality agreements, whether or not the allegedly incomplete disclosures resulted in any harm to the public fisc. Id., at 1522-1525.
We granted the petition for certiorari to consider whether the 1986 amendment is applicable to pre-1986 conduct and, if so, whether the Government's release of its audits to Hughes employees constituted a public disclosure bar under the 1986 amendment and whether harm to the public fisc is an essential element of a qui tam action under the amended Act. 519 U. S. 926 (1996). Because we conclude that the lower courts should not have applied the 1986 amendment and therefore that this action should have been dismissed, we express no opinion as to the Ninth Circuit's "public disclosure" and "public fisc" holdings, or as to the merits of respondent's factual contentions.
II
The allegedly false claims at issue in this case were submitted by Hughes between 1982 and 1984. At that time, the FCA required a district court to "dismiss [a qui tam] action . . . based on evidence or information the Government had when the action was brought." 31 U. S. C. § 3730(b)(4) (1982 ed.). The Ninth Circuit accepted, and respondent does not dispute, that because "the government was aware of [respondent's] allegations before he filed his suit, the [1982 provision] would bar his claim," were it applicable. 63 F. 3d, at 1517.
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