Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism

Abstract

In 1996 Congress amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to allow U.S. victims of terrorism to sue certain States responsible for terrorist acts. The terrorist state defendants have refused to appear in court, the courts have handed down large default judgments, the Clinton and Bush Administrations have intervened to block collection on those judgments, and Congress has repeatedly enacted measures to facilitate payment. Further complexity has been added by attempts in one suit to abrogate an international agreement, the enactment of retaliatory legislation in some of the terrorist States, the occupation of Iraq and suspension of its status as a terrorist State, and a proposal to compensate victims through an administrative process. Recently, a court ruled that Congress has never created a cause of action against terrorist States themselves, but only against their officials, employees and agents, and only for their private conduct, not for their official acts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 07, 2005
Accession Number
ADA444784

Entities

People

  • Jennifer K. Elsea

Organizations

  • Federation of American Scientists

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Congress
  • Department Of State
  • Employment
  • Foreign Relations
  • Government (Foreign)
  • Governments
  • International Law
  • Judicial Process
  • Law
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Supreme Court
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Criminal Law
  • Strategic Security Studies