Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act - denial of immunity for extrajudicial killing - Cuban liability for shooting down civil aircraft - punitive damages - retroactive application of statute recognizing cause of action for human rights violations

Article Abstract:

A federal district court in Miami ruled in December 1997 in Alejandre v. Cuba that Cuba could not claim sovereign immunity for actions its Air Force took in shooting down two civil aircrafts. Section 1605(a)(7) of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act establishes six conditions under which immunity is lost. Conditions include acts that cause death, occur outside of the foreign body's territory, and are committed by countries the US has designated as sponsoring terrorism. The court applied the rule retroactively. Courts should be careful they do not retroactively apply human rights law merely to punish enemy states.

United States, Human rights

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France - recognition of ICSID awards - sovereign immunity

Article Abstract:

The French Court of Cassation has ruled that the International Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States requires states to recognize International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) awards, regardless of that state's laws covering other kinds of arbitral awards. A state which has signed the Convention is bound to recognize ICSID awards since the Convention allows no exceptions and does not permit a state an immunity from jurisdiction defense.

Commercial arbitration

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Sovereign immunity from suit - agreement between a local-government entity and a foreign state - distinction between public and private acts - waiver of immunity - effect of choice-of-law clause on immunity

Article Abstract:

The author discusses Sweden's Supreme Court's decision in Local Authority v. Iceland, which involved the issues of sovereign immunity as applied to a local government and foreign state agreement, waiver of that immunity, and how the agreement's choice-of-law clause effected immunity.

Sweden, Iceland, Conflict of laws, Waiver (Civil procedure), Public contracts, Government contracts

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