Sovereign Must Suffer Jury

A court may wrongly decide to submit civil claims against the instrumentality of a foreign state to a jury, in violation of 28 USC §1441(d). The mistake does not entitle the instrumentality to a writ of mandamus, in medias res, as Alitalia had requested In re: Linee Aeree Italiane, docket no. 06-2935.

Italy reduced its shareholdings in the airline to a minority stake after the airline had the case moved from state court to federal court. Assuming a minority ownership would remove the protection afforded the airline by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the federal court ordered a jury trial. Alitalia applied for the mandamus. It wanted a bench trial under the FSIA.

Judge Posner explained on November 27, 2006 that Alitalia may be right but a mandamus is not warranted. A jury trial may be inconvenient and costly, but any harm is not irreparable. Alitalia may avail itself of any remedies after a verdict. -- Clemens Kochinke, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP, Washington. Mandamus FSIA Jury Trial

Tue, 21:28:41 5 Dec 2006 / Embassy Law Link

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