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Immunity Of International Organizations In United States Courts: Absolute Or Restrictive?, Richard J. Oparil

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Since 1945, international and intergovernmental organizations have been entitled to immunity under the International Organizations Immunities Act (IOIA) akin to that enjoyed by foreign governments, which was absolute at that time. In 1976, however, passage of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) significantly restricted the nature of foreign governments' immunity. This Article addresses the issue of whether the FSIA also restricted the immunity enjoyed by international organizations. The first two sections describe the IOLA and the FSIA. The third section discusses a number of cases involving international organizations and the ways courts have been able to avoid the issue of …