The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. §1602 et seq. (FSIA), is silent on the issue of criminal immunity for foreign sovereigns. The Tenth and Sixth Circuits disagree on the meaning of this silence: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit holds that the FSIA does not provide criminal immunity for foreign sovereigns, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit holds that it does.
This circuit split regarding criminal immunity also governs whether foreign sovereigns are necessarily immune from civil claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. §§1961-1968 (RICO). To impose civil RICO liability, a plaintiff must establish a defendant’s “pattern of racketeering activity.” RICO defines “racketeering activity” to include various indictable acts. As the Sixth Circuit reasons, if a party cannot be indicted (because of its immunity), then it cannot commit an indictable act. And, if a party cannot commit an indictable act, then it cannot be civilly liable under RICO.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
