FSIA Effect of Joining European Union
In Micula v. Government of Romania, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia looked at the arbitration exception in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act in the context of an arbitration agreement signed by an E.U. member state. The member now belongs to the E.U. but did not when it signed. The E.U. Commission joined the matter as an amicus to state that the court lacked jurisdiction over the foreign sovereign under the FSIA. On May 20, 2020, the court held:
A U.S. court lacks jurisdiction over a foreign sovereign unless an exception to sovereign immunity applies. 28 U.S.C. §§1330(a); 1604. As Romania now agrees, the district court properly invoked the exception for actions to enforce arbitration awards. Id. § 1605(a)(6). The European Commission questions whether Romania's agreement to arbitrate was nullified by its ascension to the European Union. But as the district court carefully explained, Romania did not join the EU until after the underlying events here, so the arbitration agreement applied. See Micula v. Gov't of Rom., 404 F. Supp. 3d265, 276-80(D.D.C. 2019).The United States District Court for the District of Columbia had granted a petition of the plaintiff and three affiliated corporations to confirm an arbitration award against the Government of Romania. -- Clemens Kochinke, partner, Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP, Washington, DC.
Wed, / Embassy Law Link