Federal Common Law

What Deference to the Executive in Halkbank Should Have Looked Like

As previously reported, the Second Circuit issued its opinion in United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi (Halkbank) on October 22, 2024, addressing the deference owed to the executive branch’s determination that Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank, is not immune from criminal prosecution for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Similar questions of deference to the executive…

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Second Circuit Holds for the Government in Halkbank Remand

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued its opinion in U.S. v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi (Halkbank) following the Supreme Court’s decision to remand the case for further consideration of common law immunity issues. The same panel of Second Circuit judges held for the government the first time it heard the case…

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Chiquita Liable for Financing Colombian Paramilitary Death Squads

In a win for international human rights advocacy, a Florida jury has found a U.S. corporation liable for human rights violations committed in a foreign country. This first of three “bellwether” trials involved nine cases. Hundreds remain to be tried in this multidistrict litigation. The jury’s verdict is the latest development in a civil case…

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Throwback Thursday: Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino

Sixty years ago, on March 23, 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino. By a vote of 8-1, the Court held that the act of state doctrine prevented U.S. courts from questioning the validity of Cuba’s expropriations of property owned by U.S. nationals, even if the…

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Second Circuit Hears Halkbank Oral Argument

On February 28, 2024, the Second Circuit heard oral argument in United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. From the judges’ questions—which admittedly came almost exclusively from Judge Bianco—the panel seems likely to hold that Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank, is not immune under federal common law from criminal prosecution for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. That…

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What Does Customary International Law Say About Halkbank’s Immunity?

Tomorrow, the Second Circuit will hear argument in United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. to consider whether Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank (but not its central bank), is immune from criminal prosecution for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Halkbank claimed immunity under both the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and federal common law. The U.S….

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U.S. Brief in Halkbank Abandons Customary International Law in Immunity Cases

In Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States (Halkbank), the Supreme Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) does not apply to criminal proceedings. The Court remanded Halkbank’s separate claim of common law immunity to the Second Circuit for reconsideration. On November 20, 2023, after two extensions, the United States filed its brief on remand. The U.S….

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Throwback Thursday: Eighty Years of Ex Parte Republic of Peru

Back in 1943, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in an admiralty case against the Ucayali, a Peruvian steamship. A Cuban company brought the in rem action in a federal district court in Louisiana alleging that the steamship violated a charter agreement by failing to carry a cargo of sugar from Peru to New York….

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Federal Law and Choice-of-Law Reform

How much should federal law have to say about the choice-of-law rules used by federal courts in diversity cases? In Klaxon v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co., Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal courts sitting in diversity should apply the choice-of-law rules prevailing in the states in which they sit. This post defends the…

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Halkbank On Remand: Immunity and Extraterritoriality – Judicial Deference or Customary International Law?

The Supreme Court surprised some by ruling unanimously in Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) does not protect Halkbank from criminal prosecution in U.S. courts. Seven Justices concluded that the FSIA applies solely to civil actions but remanded the case – without guidance – for the Second…

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Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School
ingrid.wuerth@vanderbilt.eduEmail

William Dodge

George Washington University Law School
william.dodge@law.gwu.eduEmail

Maggie Gardner

Cornell Law School
mgardner@cornell.eduEmail

John F. Coyle

University of North Carolina School of Law
jfcoyle@email.unc.eduEmail

Zachary D. Clopton

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
zclopton@law.northwestern.eduEmail

Paul B. Stephan

University of Virginia School of Law
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Noah Buyon

Duke University School of Law
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Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom

University of Cambridge
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Ben Köhler

Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
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Melissa Stewart

University of Hawai'i, William S. Richardson School of Law.
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Ian M. Kysel

Cornell Law School
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Craig D. Gaver

Bluestone Law
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Gregg Cashmark

Vanderbilt Law School
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Rochelle C. Dreyfuss

NYU School of Law
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Linda J. Silberman

New York University School of Law
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