Jurisdiction Commons^™

Book Review, Michael C. Doland

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The book is divided into two parts. The first part addresses those subjects that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act covers in detail, including the definition of foreign states and foreign government-owned corporations, judicial competence, jurisdiction, immunity, service of process, venue, and execution of judgments. The second part addresses those subjects that the Act covers in a cursory fashion, including burden of proof, rights of discovery, available remedies, and jury trials. In addition, the book treats those topics that received virtually no discussion under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act but that are essential to its understanding and enforcement, including the act …

Jurisdiction Over Foreign Governments, Melissa L. Werthan, Nancie L. Combs, Jeffrey L. Deitch, Anita L. Fuoss

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Passage of the FSIA in 1976 codified the restrictive theory of sovereign immunity, which provides that a foreign state will re-main immune from suit for its public acts but will lose immunity for its private and commercial acts. By placing the determination of a foreign government's immunity in the hands of the judiciary, Congress attempted to standardize an area of the law that had been governed by political relations between the United States and foreign governments.

The FSIA is the exclusive mechanism through which private parties can seek redress against foreign governments in United States courts. The Act provides a …

Nlrb Jurisdiction Over Foreign Governments, Dan T. Carter

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In State Bank of India the National Labor Relations Board reversed its discretionary abstention policy and asserted jurisdiction over the American operations of a foreign government employer. Previously the Board had declined to assert jurisdiction over these employers out of deference to foreign sovereigns, and because of the Supreme Court's admonition against extraterritorial application of the National Labor Relations Act in the absence of "an affirmative intention of the Congress clearly expressed." The Board now believes that neither public policy nor the policies of the NLRA can justify abstention. Although the Board has deemed the recently enacted Foreign Sovereign Immunities …