Tag Archives: Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
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SCOTUS Opinion: Court Thwarts Efforts To Reclaim German Artifacts
During the Weimar Republic, a consortium of German Jewish art dealers purchased a collection of medieval relics known as the Welfenschatz for preservation. When the Nazis took over Germany, they forced the consortium to sell the relics to the government for a third of their value. Heirs of the consortium failed to recover the artifacts in Germany, so they filed ... Read More
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SCOTUS Opinion: Republic of Sudan Exposed to $4.3 Billion In Punitive Damages
Victims of an al Qaeda terrorist attack sued the Republic of Sudan under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which carved a specific exception under 28 U.S.C. sec. 1605(a)(7) for states that sponsored terrorism. When the victims filed suit, Section 1605(a)(7) did not permit recovery of punitive damages. Then In 2008, Congress amended FSIA through the National Defense Authorization Act, which ... Read More
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SCOTUS Opinion: Foreign States Must Be Served On Home Soil With Process
To gain personal jurisdiction over a foreign sovereign under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, service of process must be accomplished, among other options, “by any form of mail requiring a signed receipt, to be addressed and dispatched . . . to the head of the ministry of foreign affairs of the foreign state concerned.” 28 U.S.C. sec. 1608(a)(3). In ... Read More
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SCOTUS Opinion: Court Limits Immunity Afforded Under The International Organizations Immunity Act Of 1945
Originally, the International Organizations Immunity Act of 1945 (IOIA) granted foreign corporations virtually absolute immunity from suit. In 1952, the State Department adopted a more restrictive view, carving out commercial acts from that immunity. Congress then passed the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) in 1976, which specifically excepted commercial activity with a sufficient nexus in the United States ... Read More