Law Commons^™

Terrorism, Extradition, And Fsia Relief: The Letelier Case, Eric H. Singer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The cases involving Orlando Letelier and Michael Townley raise a number of questions about extradition and state-sponsored terrorism. As shown by the United States' failure to obtain the three Chilean requestees (and Argentina's failure to obtain Townley), extradition is an unreliable and thus inadequate means to cope with state-sponsored terrorism. To deter such conduct may call for greater inventiveness in identifying and implementing effective sanctions. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) seemingly offers an alternative to extradition and a remedy for acts of state-sponsored terrorism under its noncommercial torts exception. This remedy, however, is uncertain in light of recent court …

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 …