Swiss Accused of Violating U.S. Constitution
The facts in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's unpublished decision in the matter Hilsenrath v. The Swiss Confederation et al., docket number 07-17127, surprise:
The Hilsenraths alleged that the Swiss Confederation, the Federal Attorney General of Switzerland and an employee of the Swiss Attorney General violated the Hilsenraths' constitutional rights when they froze the Hilsenraths' Swiss bank assets during the course of a criminal investigation into allegedly illicit financial dealings.The violation of American constitutional rights alleged in a U.S. court against a foreign sovereign nation protected by the Foreign Sovereigns Immunities Act? No wonder the lower court dismissed the complaint, as the Circuit Court explains:
The district court properly dismissed the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the Swiss government and its employees are immune from this action under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1330, 1602 etseq. ("FSIA") and the Hilsenraths did not establish the applicability of any of the FSIA's exceptions to sovereign immunity.The explanation of the unusual case is found in the first line of the decision filed on November 2, 2010: Hana Hilsenrath and Oliver Hilsenrath appeal pro se … -- Clemens Kochinke, partner, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP, Washington, DC.
Mon, / Embassy Law Link