A recent Supreme Court decision sets important precedent on the retroactive effect of legislation amending the law governing sovereign immunity in the United States. On May 18, 2020, the Supreme Court handed a victory to...more
In the last 30 years, the U.S. Congress has enacted several laws enabling victims of terrorism to seek damages in U.S. federal courts. The central piece of legislation in this regard, the Antiterrorism Act of 1990 (ATA), has...more
The Supreme Court in Opati v. Republic of Sudan, No. 17–1268, 590 U.S. ___ (2020), has held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA") allows certain plaintiffs to recover punitive damages from state sponsors of...more
On May 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Opati v. Republic of Sudan, holding that plaintiffs who sue a foreign government under the state-sponsored-terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act can seek...more
Opati v. Republic of Sudan, No. 17-1268: Victims of a 1998 al Qaeda attack outside the United States Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania brought suit in federal court against the Republic of Sudan, alleging that Sudan had...more
On 28 September 2016, the U.S. Congress adopted the ‘Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act’ (JASTA). Even prior to its adoption, the bill was controversial as it lifts the immunity from jurisdiction of foreign States...more
While countless news outlets have reported the recent Congressional override of President Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), few have given much thought to the more nuanced consequences...more
On September 28, 2016, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted to override President Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), a bill whose purpose was to curtail foreign states’ ability to invoke...more
In support of the international crackdown on the black market trade of looted cultural artifacts, the FBI recently announced that art dealers may be prosecuted for engaging in the trade of stolen Iraqi and Syrian antiquities....more