Ruhrgas, FSIA and Discretion

On December 1, 2005, the Fourth Circuit approved the exercise of discretion by the lower court in dismissing a matter for lacking personal jurisdiction without examining in full the more complex issues of subject matter jurisdiction.

In the matter Mattie Lolavar et al. v. Ferndando de Santibanes et al., docket number 04-1901, the District Court realized that the subject matter jurisdiction in the complaint against an Argentinian intelligence official involves the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and decided not to resolve that question. Instead it relied on the clear facts that support a dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction.

In their appeal, plaintiffs argued that the court should have ruled on the subject matter jurisdiction before dismissing the case. The Supreme Court of the United States granted the lower courts in Ruhrgas AG v. Marathan Oil Co., 526 US 574, 588 (1999), the discretion that the court properly applied here, the court of appeals found.   -   Clemens Kochinke, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP, Washington, DC.

Sun, 10:05:54 4 Dec 2005 / Embassy Law Link

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