Abstract
This Note will examine whether execution immunity under the FSIA may be considered sua sponte by a district court judge and the broad judicial considerations in preserving the narrow and restrictive view of the FSIA to the attachment of assets of a foreign state. To do this, this Note will review the facts and holding of Walters. This Note will then survey the legal background of sovereign immunity, the adoption of the "restrictive immunity" principle in the U.S., and the creation of the FSIA and the decisions of three appellate courts to adopt the uniform holding that district courts have the right to raise the issue of immunity sua sponte. Next, this Note will look at the reasoning of Walters in light of the decisions of its sister circuits and the broader foreign policy goals of the FSIA, concluding that Walters was decided in accordance with the text and structure of the FSIA. However, this Note will argue that the court's decision leaves certain questions unresolved regarding the scope of discovery against a foreign state and the potential challenges of attaching the assets of a foreign state.
Recommended Citation
J. F. Hulston,
Chinese Assault Rifles, Giant Pandas, and Perpetual Litigation: The Rights without Remedies Dead-End of the FSIA,
77 Mo. L. Rev.
(2012)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol77/iss2/7