IN RE THE FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES ACT: HOW THE 9/11 LITIGATION SHOWS THE SHORTCOMINGS OF FSIA AS A TOOL IN THE WAR ON GLOBAL TERRORISM

摘要

The spread of global terrorism presents a serious threat to American citizens domestically and around the world. Following the attacks on 9/11, the United States swiftly responded with military action aimed at combating global terrorism. While the military campaign was raging on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the victims of 9/11 were taking the fight to terrorists by mounting civil lawsuits against international terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, state sponsors of terrorism, and terrorist financiers. Litigants brought these suits under a number of statutes, including the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). This Note explores FSIA as a tool for combating global terrorism by focusing on two FSIA provisions: the terrorism exception and the non-commercial tort exception. This Note examines these two statutory provisions as civil litigation tools against terrorism, explains the challenges litigants encounter when attempting to bring suit under these provisions, and presents proposals to reform both statutory provisions to make them more potent civil litigation tools.