No. 21-1450October Term 2022Decided Apr 19, 2023
Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States
Turkiye Halk Bankasi, a Turkish state-owned bank, was indicted for participating in a money-laundering scheme to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Apr 19, 2023
- What it's about
Turkiye Halk Bankasi, a Turkish state-owned bank, was indicted for participating in a money-laundering scheme to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. The Supreme Court ruled that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act does not protect foreign states and their instrumentalities from criminal prosecution in U.S. courts, though common-law immunity issues remain to be decided.
Question presented
1. Whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) renders foreign states and their instrumentalities immune from criminal prosecution. 2. Whether the FSIA is the exclusive source of jurisdiction over foreign states and their instrumentalities, such that a court cannot exercise jurisdiction over a foreign state or its instrumentality in a criminal case under 18 U.S.C. § 3231.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit / Decision released Apr 19, 2023
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Documents
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Mar 31, 2026
- Method
- Methodology
Primary materials8
Supreme Court docket 21-1450
docket | Mar 31, 2026
Primary case document
Supreme Court document | Mar 31, 2026
CourtListener docket record
docket | Mar 31, 2026
Questions Presented
brief | Mar 8, 2026
Opinion
opinion | Apr 19, 2023
opinion
opinion | Apr 19, 2023
Petition
brief | May 13, 2022
Lower Court Orders/Opinions
order | Jan 25, 2022