{ "id": "RL31258", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL31258", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 351723, "date": "2008-08-08", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T03:14:25.631258", "title": "Suits Against Terrorist States by\u00a0Victims\u00a0of\u00a0Terrorism", "summary": "In 1996 Congress amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to allow U.S. victims of terrorism to sue designated State sponsors of terrorism for their terrorist acts. The courts have handed down large judgments against the terrorist State defendants, generally in default, and successive Administrations have intervened to block the judicial attachment of frozen assets to satisfy judgments. After a court ruled that Congress never created a cause of action against terrorist States themselves, but only against their officials, employees, and agents, plaintiffs have based claims on state law. The limited availability of defendant States\u2019 assets for satisfaction of judgments has made collection difficult. Congress passed a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2008 (H.R. 4986), to provide a federal cause of action against terrorist States and to facilitate enforcement of judgments, authorizing the President to waive the provision with respect to Iraq. Congress subsequently passed S. 3370 to exempt Libya from the FSIA provisions if it agrees to compensate victims with pending lawsuits.\nSection 1083 of P.L. 110-181 is the latest in a series of actions Congress has taken over the last decade to assist plaintiffs in lawsuits against terrorist States. The 107th Congress enacted a measure in the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (\u201cTRIA\u201d) (P.L. 107-297) to allow the attachment of blocked assets of terrorist States to pay compensatory damages to victims. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (\u201cVTVPA\u201d) (P.L. 106-386) liquidated some frozen assets to pay claims and provided some U.S. funds to compensate those holding judgments against Iran at the time. Section 1083 seeks to make more assets available to execute terrorism judgments. It permits the attachment of assets belonging to separate agencies and instrumentalities of defendant States, permits plaintiffs to file notices of lis pendens with respect to property owned by defendant States or entities they control, and permits some plaintiffs to refile claims.\nThe Supreme Court has not directly addressed the FSIA terrorism exception, but in 2006 it remanded a decision based on the lower court\u2019s assumption that Iran\u2019s Ministry of Defense (MOD) is an \u201cagency or instrumentality\u201d of Iran rather than part of the government itself, and will decide in its upcoming term whether certain Iranian assets are available under the TRIA to judgment holders. The Court may also be asked to determine the effect of the waiver of \u00a7 1083 on pending cases against Iraq, which the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has permitted to go forward.\nThis report provides background on the doctrine of State immunity and the FSIA; details the evolution of the terrorist State exception and some of the resulting judicial decisions; describes legislative efforts to help claimants satisfy their judgments; summarizes the hostages\u2019 suit against Iran and Congress\u2019s efforts to intervene; summarizes the status of lawsuits against Iraq and Libya; and provides an overview of proposed legislation (S. 3370, H.R. 3346, S. 1944, H.R. 394, H.R. 5167, and H.R. 2764). Appendix A provides a list of cases, including those covered by TRIA \u00a7 2002 and the amount of compensation paid. Appendix B lists the assets of each terrorist State currently blocked by the United States and the total amount owed by each for terrorism judgments. The report will be updated as events warrant.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31258", "sha1": "9650d0d61aaac52febee617007989aa741713041", "filename": "files/20080808_RL31258_9650d0d61aaac52febee617007989aa741713041.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31258", "sha1": "e8a4e9929d1f026af273a6c24e2d96508bd78a32", "filename": "files/20080808_RL31258_e8a4e9929d1f026af273a6c24e2d96508bd78a32.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462373/", "id": "RL31258_2008Jul31", "date": "2008-07-31", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism", "summary": "This report provides background on the doctrine of State immunity and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA); details the evolution of the terrorist State exception and some of the resulting judicial decisions; describes legislative efforts to help claimants satisfy their judgments; summarizes the decision in the hostages' suit against Iran and Congress's efforts to intervene; summarizes what has happened with Iraq's assets, and provides an overview of proposed legislation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080731_RL31258_76039a9d7f42ab7d4723022299c5bd0819e28cc4.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080731_RL31258_76039a9d7f42ab7d4723022299c5bd0819e28cc4.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Actions and defenses", "name": "Actions and defenses" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "State-sponsored terrorism", "name": "State-sponsored terrorism" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Victims of terrorism", "name": "Victims of terrorism" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462018/", "id": "RL31258_2008May01", "date": "2008-05-01", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism", "summary": "This report provides background on the doctrine of State immunity and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA); details the evolution of the terrorist State exception and some of the resulting judicial decisions; describes legislative efforts to help claimants satisfy their judgments; summarizes the decision in the hostages' suit against Iran and Congress's efforts to intervene; summarizes what has happened with Iraq's assets, and provides an overview of proposed legislation", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080501_RL31258_abef683f09c2f07d154e35eab35f23e415f7b368.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080501_RL31258_abef683f09c2f07d154e35eab35f23e415f7b368.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Terrorism", "name": "Terrorism" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Actions and defenses", "name": "Actions and defenses" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "State-sponsored terrorism", "name": "State-sponsored terrorism" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Immunities of foreign states", "name": "Immunities of foreign states" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc817366/", "id": "RL31258_2008Mar17", "date": "2008-03-17", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080317_RL31258_c628fbd7a9469abe35a8be3c1adbb61ffbfb44df.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080317_RL31258_c628fbd7a9469abe35a8be3c1adbb61ffbfb44df.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6669/", "id": "RL31258 2005-06-07", "date": "2005-06-07", "retrieved": "2005-08-03T10:12:38", "title": "Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20050607_RL31258_83f38b2126635b3e5bca70d18facfb3ad0516c3e.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20050607_RL31258_83f38b2126635b3e5bca70d18facfb3ad0516c3e.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Actions and defenses", "name": "Actions and defenses" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "State-sponsored terrorism", "name": "State-sponsored terrorism" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs3206/", "id": "RL31258 2002-01-25", "date": "2002-01-25", "retrieved": "2005-06-11T22:16:09", "title": "Suits Against Terrorist States", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20020125_RL31258_b563a746210189686c46640587e955230ff07c05.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20020125_RL31258_b563a746210189686c46640587e955230ff07c05.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Actions and defenses", "name": "Actions and defenses" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "State-sponsored terrorism", "name": "State-sponsored terrorism" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" } ] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Intelligence and National Security", "National Defense" ] }