Golden Gate University Law Review
Abstract
This Comment contends that jurisdiction over Austria cannot be established retroactively by application of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The purpose of this Comment is to call the attention of the legal community and the general public to the need to resolve the remaining Holocaust Era claims. Many U.S. citizens fought to preserve democratic rights during the Second World War. Many gave their lives to protect the world from fascism. Now it is time for the legislature and the judiciary to complete this noble task. This Comment is divided into four parts. Part I provides a brief overview of Holocaust litigation in the United States and a summary of the Altmann case. Part II explains FSIA's application and the legal principles of retroactivity. Part III presents the district court's interpretation of FSIA in Altmann. Part IV explores the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision as well as the underlying decision of the district Court. Finally, Part V critiques the Ninth Circuit's decision, asserting that it was made on improper legal grounds and proposes that the matter has to be resolved in the interest of public policy.
Recommended Citation
Svetlana Shirinova,
Challenges to Establishing Jurisdiction Over Holocaust Era Claims in Federal Court, 34 Golden Gate U. L. Rev.
(2004).
https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev/vol34/iss1/7