No. 16-1094October Term 2018Decided Mar 26, 2019
Republic of Sudan v. Harrison
Victims of the USS Cole bombing sued Sudan under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and obtained a default judgment after court papers were mailed to Sudan’s foreign minister through Sudan’s embassy in Washington, D.C.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Mar 26, 2019
- What it's about
Victims of the USS Cole bombing sued Sudan under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and obtained a default judgment after court papers were mailed to Sudan’s foreign minister through Sudan’s embassy in Washington, D.C. The case is about whether that mailing method was a valid way to serve a foreign country under the FSIA.
Question presented
Whether the Second Circuit erred by holding - in direct conflict with the D.C., Fifth, and Seventh Circuits and in the face of an amicus brief from the United States - that plaintiffs suing a foreign state under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act may serve the foreign state under 28 U.S.C § 1608(a)(3) by mail addressed and dispatched to the head of the foreign state's ministry of foreign affairs "via" or in "care of” the foreign state's diplomatic mission in the United States, despite U.S. obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to preserve mission inviolability.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit / Decision released Mar 26, 2019
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Timing
Decided March 26, 2019
The Court released its decision on March 26, 2019 without hearing oral argument.
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Methodology