 |
|
|
|
 |
|
||
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
| CASES OF INTEREST |
| click here to go back to the Cases of Interest |
| PROCEDURAL ISSUES: DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY |
| Issue: Immunity exceptions/Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 |
Issue: Immunity exceptions/Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 |
| PERMANENT MISSION OF INDIA TO THE UNITED
NATIONS ET AL. v. CITY OF NEW YORK
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
551 U. S. ____ (2007)
|
| Q. Does the (FSIA) (28 U. S. C. §1602 et seq.)provide immunity to a foreign sovereign from a lawsuit to declare the validity of tax liens on property held by the sovereign for the purpose of housing its employees? |
| A. No. Property ownership is not an inherently sovereign function. Under the FSIA, which governs federal courts' jurisdiction in lawsuits against foreign sovereigns, a foreign state is presumptively immune from suit unless a specific exception applies. |
| New York City levied property taxes against petitioner governments for that portion of their diplomatic office buildings used to house lower level employees and their families. Petitioners refused to pay the taxes. By operation of state law, the unpaid taxes were converted into tax liens held by the City. Petitioners claimed immunity from the validity of the liens under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA). 28 U. S. C §1605(a)(4) which governs the FSIA's "immovable property" exception, provides that a foreign state shall not be immune from jurisdiction in any case in which "rights in immovable property situated in the United States are in issue." A lien on real property runs with the land and is enforceable against subsequent purchasers, inhibiting the right to convey. Therefore, a suit to establish a tax lien's validity implicates "rights in immovable property." Congress intended the FSIA to adopt the restrictive theory of sovereign immunity, which recognizes immunity "with regard to sovereign or public acts (jure imperii) of a state, but not . . . private acts (jure gestionis)." The FSIA was also meant to codify the real property exception recognized by international practice at the time of its enactment. |
| back to the top |