New Law Library of Congress Report on Laws Lifting Sovereign Immunity

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has made public a new report on Laws Lifting Sovereign Immunity In Selected Countries (from May 2016):

"This report provides a review of laws adopted in Cuba, Iran, Libya, Russia, Sudan, and Syria on lifting the sovereign immunity of foreign states.  Individual lawsuits against the United States brought before national and international courts by these countries are also analyzed."

"The surveys demonstrate some diversity and common threads with regard to lifting the sovereign immunity of the US and other countries.  Except for Iran and Russia, the surveyed countries have no specific legislation addressing general principles of sovereign immunity.  Iran uses domestic counterterrorism legislation to facilitate the freezing of financial assets of foreign governments.  Syria uses such legislation to freeze the assets of individuals, including government officials, while Sudan uses it simply to prosecute foreign nationals.  Cuba and Iran have adopted special laws targeting the US." 

"Laws on jurisdictional immunity passed by the Russian and Iranian legislatures are based on the principle of negative reciprocity meant to deter the lifting of sovereign immunity of Russia or Iran by other countries.  These laws allow domestic courts to try civil cases against foreign governments.  While the focus of the Iranian law appears to be limited to violations of international law and cases of terrorism, Russian law is broader and allows considering foreign state property in Russia as an asset in any civil suit against a foreign government brought before a Russian court.  In both cases, the countries’ foreign ministries determine the damage inflicted on the nation’s sovereign immunity and recommend the level of reciprocity to the court." 

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2.65 million volumes from all ages of history and virtually every jurisdiction in the world.

It has produced many comparative and foreign law reports.