International Law Update

Issue Number

Latest documents

• Discovery

  Where a party seeks evidence under Section 1782 for use in a foreign proceeding, Eleventh Circuit addresses jurisdictional issue-here, Appellant did not appeal the district court’s order granting the § 1782 application; instead, Appellant appealed the denial of its subsequent motion to quash.

• Sovereign immunity

  Where ICSID panel issued an award against Venezuela and creditors brought ex parte action for recognition of award under New York law, federal district court denied Venezuela’s subsequent motion to vacate judgment; Second Circuit reverses because FSIA is the sole basis for federal court jurisdiction over foreign sovereigns in actions to enforce ICSID awards.

• Sovereign immunity

  Considering challenges to default judgments holding Sudan liable for the injuries suffered by victims of the 1998 al Qaeda embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, District of Columbia Circuit interprets FSIA terrorism exception.

• Treaties

  Ninth Circuit reviews request for declaratory judgment by the Republic of the Marshall Islands that the United States is in breach of its treaty obligations; Court finds dispute nonjusticiable and within the realm of the executive, not the judiciary.

• Comity

  In Case of Claims for Damages by Persons Affected by Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Incident in Japan, Ninth Circuit Reviews Denial of Motion to Dismiss on Grounds of International Comity, Forum Non Conveniens, the Political Question Doctrine, and the Firefighter’s Rule.

• Federal Tort Claims Act

  In action under Federal Tort Claims Act where US State Department employee suffered injuries in Haiti, District Of Columbia Circuit Affirms Dismissal of lawsuit.

• Immunity (International Organization)

  District of Columbia Circuit affirms dismissal of lawsuit by Indian nationals who claim to be beneficiaries of social and environmental terms of contract of International Finance Corporation (IFC) with large Indian company.

• Sovereign Immunity

  District of Columbia remands case about disputed property looted during Holocaust in Hungary; Congress enacted Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016 during the pendency of the appeal.

• Terrorism

  In challenges to Executive Order No. 13780, Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, U.S. Supreme Court grants writ of certiorari.

• Torture

  In civilians’ claims for damages after drone strike in Yemen, District of Columbia Circuit affirms dismissal of case on Political Question grounds.

Featured documents

• Sovereign immunity

  Considering challenges to default judgments holding Sudan liable for the injuries suffered by victims of the 1998 al Qaeda embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, District of Columbia Circuit interprets FSIA terrorism exception....

• Alien tort statute

  Seventh Circuit affirms dismissals without prejudice of lawsuits by Holocaust victims against Hungarian national railway, Hungarian national bank, and other private banks for their complicit role during World War II; international comity requires that Plaintiffs first exhaust available Hungarian...

• Terrorism

  Second Circuit reviews case where Plaintiffs are seeking to enforce judgments for terrorism related injuries and deaths against Iran; Iranian party argues that Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, Section 8772, violates U.S. separation of powers because it was solely directed...

• Vienna Convention

  Fifth Circuit denies Certificate of Appealability in case of Mexican citizen on death row who claims that Texas law enforcement officers had failed to inform him of his rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations; the Convention creates no judicially enforceable individual...

• Arbitration

  U.S. Supreme Court reviews U.S.-UK investment treaty’s arbitration clause which allows either party to submit a dispute to a competent tribunal of the Contracting Party under certain conditions; issue is whether a court or the arbitrator has primary responsibility for interpreting and applying the...

• Comity

  In Case of Claims for Damages by Persons Affected by Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Incident in Japan, Ninth Circuit Reviews Denial of Motion to Dismiss on Grounds of International Comity, Forum Non Conveniens, the Political Question Doctrine, and the Firefighter’s Rule....

• Discovery

  In dispute over foreign shipping contract where one party filed for discovery in Florida under 28 U.S.C. Section 1782, Eleventh Circuit affirms that discovery may proceed because the lawsuits contemplated in Ecuador were "within reasonable contemplation"....

• Sovereign immunity

  After District Court enters $71.5 million default judgment against Hamas organization that allegedly carried out terrorist attack in Jerusalem in 1997 that injured eight U.S. citizens, Plaintiffs attempt to enforce judgment by seeking Persian artifacts held in museums....

• Foreign corrupt practices act

  Eleventh Circuit defines "instrumentality" under the FCPA and provides a list of factors that may be relevant to deciding the issue; affirms the district court’s jury instruction that state-owned or state-controlled companies that provide services to the public may meet the definition of &...

• Sovereign Immunity

  District of Columbia remands case about disputed property looted during Holocaust in Hungary; Congress enacted Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016 during the pendency of the appeal....