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United Kingdom sovereign immunityjurisdictionalien tort statute

Argentine Republic v Amerada Hess Shipping Corporation

488 U.S. 428 (1989)
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
CourtSupreme Court of the United States
Year1989
StatusBinding authority

Key Principle

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act 1976 provides the sole basis for obtaining jurisdiction over a foreign state in the courts of the United States, so the Alien Tort Statute cannot independently confer jurisdiction over a foreign sovereign and none of the FSIA exceptions applied to an attack on a neutral ship in international waters.

Area of Law

jurisdiction, public-law

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