Supreme Court Says Helms-Burton Abrogates Foreign Sovereign Immunity
In Exxon Mobil Corp v. Corporación CIMEX, S.A. (Cuba), the Supreme Court held that the Helms-Burton Act abrogated the sovereign immunity of Cuban agencies and instrumentalities for suits brought under the Act. Plaintiffs may therefore pursue such suits whether or not they can satisfy one of the exceptions to immunity in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities…
Continue ReadingNew Legislation Aids Claims by Victims of Nazi Expropriations
Congress has passed legislation making it easier for plaintiffs to recover Nazi-looted art and other expropriated property. If the president signs the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (“Hear”) Act of 2025 into law, defendants will have fewer procedural protections from such claims, including a more limited immunity defense for foreign sovereigns. The legislation illustrates how Congress…
Continue ReadingThrowback Thursday: The Helms-Burton Act’s 30th Anniversary
Thirty years ago today, on March 12, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996, better known by the names of its principal sponsors as the Helms-Burton Act (“the Act”). The Act was designed to sanction Fidel Castro’s government and to encourage a transition to a democratically…
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