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....

• Sovereign immunity

  D.C. Circuit dismisses complaint against Iran for lack of subjectmatter jurisdiction; Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act’s terrorism exception, 28 U.S.C. § 1605A, does not apply to acts by a foreign country against its own citizens....

• 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 &...

• Alien tort statute

  In action brought by Iraqi torture victims, Second Circuit ponders whether and under what circumstances the Alien Tort Statute provides a cause of action for violations of the Law of Nations occurring within the territory of a sovereign country other than the United States....

• Sovereign immunity

  Eleventh Circuit affirms dismissal of complaint filed by Venezuelan entrepreneur for alleged expropriations that occurred in Venezuela; Act of State Doctrine, in conjunction with the FSIA, precludes U.S. courts from reviewing Plaintiff ’s expropriation claims....

• Arbitration

  Reviewing contract dispute originating in the Congo, District of Columbia Circuit ponders whether the Federal Arbitration Act preempts the D.C. Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act....

• Sovereign immunity

  In alleged expropriation of U.S. assets by Venezuela, D.C. Circuit holds that Venezuela can be sued in the U.S. if the expropriation was motivated by discriminatory animus; discriminatory takings violate international law....

• Sovereign immunity

  In action to enforce arbitral award against Belize, District of Columbia Circuit rejects Belize’s claims of immunity because transactions at issue were essentially the sale of real estate and thus commercial in nature; New York Convention’s definition of "commercial" is not the same as...

• Securities

  Second Circuit reviews whether § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 can be applied to a purchase or sale of a security listed on a foreign exchange or to a foreign purchase or sale of another security....

• 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...