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Head-of-state immunity—Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act—suggestion by the Department of State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

Joseph W. Dellapenna
Joseph W. Dellapenna*
Affiliation:
Villanova University
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Type
International Decisions
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , July 1994 , pp. 528 - 532
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1994

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References

1 28 U.S.C. §1350 (1988).

2 28 U.S.C. §1350 note (Supp. IV 1992).

3 844 F.Supp. 128, *131.

4 Id. at *133, *135.

5 Id. at *132.

6 In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 817 F.2d 1108 (4th Cir.), cert, denied, 484 U.S. 890 (1987); Paul v. Avril, 812 F.Supp. 207 (S.D. Fla. 1992); United States v. Noriega, 746 F.Supp. 1506 (S.D. Fla. 1990); Saltany v. Reagan, 702 F.Supp. 319 (D.D.C. 1988).

7 28 U.S.C. §§1330, 1332(a)(4), 1391(f), 1441(d), 1602–1611 (1988).

8 See 1 Oppenheim’s International Law §451 (Robert Y. Jennings & Arthur Watts eds., 9th ed. 1992).

9 Such at least was the position that the State Department appeared ready to espouse in the recent litigation against the Emir of Abu Dhabi by the receiver of First American Corp. growing out of the fraudulent transactions of Bank of Credit and Commerce International in which, the receiver alleged, the Emir was deeply involved. This litigation was settled just before the State Department was to issue its suggestion regarding the Emir’s immunity. The closest we have to this position in a reported case, although it involved public acts, is found in Saltany v. Reagan, 702 F.Supp. 319 (D.D.C. 1988).

10 11 U.S. (7 Cranch) 116, 137 (1812).

11 This remains evident in the recent edition of Oppenheim’s treatment of the topic. See Oppenheim’s International Law, supra note 8, §454.

12 State Immunity Act 1978, ch. 33, §14(1), reprinted in 17 ILM 1123, 1127 (1978).

13 Jack Tate, Letter from the Acting Legal Adviser to the Acting Attorney General (May 29, 1952), reprinted in 26 Dep’t St. Bull. 984 (1952).

14 Decision of Dec. 14, 1984 (Re Honecker), BGH Gr. Sen. St., 33 Entscheidingen des Bundesgerichtshofes in Strafsachen [BGHSt] 97, translated in 80 I.L.R. 365.

15 Decision of Dec. 29, 1988 (Mobutu v. SA Cotoni), Civ. Ct. Brussels, 1989 Jurisprudence de Liège, Mons et Bruxelles [JLMB] 169, translated in 91 I.L.R. 259.

16 Saltany v. Reagan, 886 F.2d 438 (D.C. Cir. 1989), cert, denied, 495 U.S. 932 (1990). See also Kline v. Kaneko, 535 N.Y.S.2d 303 (N.Y. County Sup. Ct. 1988), aff’d mem. sub nom. Kline v. Cordero de la Madrid, 546 N.Y.S.2d 506 (App. Div. 1989) (secretary of the Cabinet of Mexico).

17 Kilroy v. Windsor, reported in Special Missions and Trade Delegations, 1978 Digest §3, at 641 (N.D. Ohio 1978), reprinted in 81 I.L.R. 127 (Charles, Prince of Wales); Kline v. Kaneko, 535 N.Y.S.2d 303 (N.Y. County Sup. Ct. 1988), affd mem. sub nom: Kline v. Cordero de la Madrid, 546 N.Y.S.2d 506 (App. Div. 1989) (wife of President of Mexico, sued for alleged involvement in kidnapping).

18 In re Estate of Ferdinand Marcos Hum. Rts. Litig., 978 F.2d 493 (9th Cir. 1992), cert, denied subnom. Marcos-Manotoc v. Trajano, 113 S.Ct. 2960 (1993) (no immunity for the daughter of former head of state who had acted on her own behalf); In re Doe, 860 F.2d 40 (2d Cir. 1988) (former head of state defying grand jury subpoena); Republic of the Philippines v. Marcos, 862 F.2d 1355 (9th Cir. 1987), cert, denied, 490 U.S. 1035 (1989); In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 817 F.2d 1108 (4th Cir. 1987); Republic of the Philippines v. Marcos, 806 F.2d 344 (2d Cir. 1986), cert, dismissed sub nom. Ancor Holdings, N.V. v. Republic of the Philippines, 480 U.S. 942 (1987).

19 Cf. Jones v. Clinton, No. LR–C–94–290 (E.D. Ark. filed May 6, 1994). Press reports indicate that President Clinton is considering invoking a claim of personal immunity analogous to head-of-state immunity in international relations.

20 Risk v. Halvorsen, 936 F.2d 393 (9th Cir. 1991), cert, denied sub nam. Risk v. Norway, 112 S.Ct. 880 (1992); Chuidian v. Philippines Nat’I Bank, 912 F.2d 1095 (9th Cir. 1990); Herbage v. Meese, 747 F.Supp. 60 (D.D.C 1990), aff’d mem., 946 F.2d 1564 (D.C Cir. 1991); Fickling v. Commonwealth of Australia, 775 F.Supp. 66 (E.D.N.Y. 1991); Kline v. Kaneko, 685 F.Supp. 386 (S.D.N.Y. 1988); Rios v. Marshall, 530 F.Supp. 351 (S.D.N.Y. 1986). See generally Joseph Dellapenna, Suing Foreign Governments and Their Corporations §1.8 (1988).

21 Tuck v. Pan Am. Health Org., 668 F.2d 547 (D.C. Cir. 1981); Broadbent v. Organization of Am. States, 628 F.2d 27 (D.C. Cir. 1980). See generally Dellapenna, supra note 20, §§1.9, 1.10.