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No. 23-867October Term 2024Decided Feb 21, 2025

Docket 23-867October Term 2024 (2024–2025)

Republic of Hungary, et al., Petitioners v. Rosalie Simon, et al.

This case involves Holocaust survivors suing the Hungarian government for property confiscated during World War II, relying on the expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

Case status

Current stage
Decided
Latest event
Decision released Feb 21, 2025
Case Accepted
Arguments HeardDec 3, 2024
Decision ReleasedFeb 21, 2025
What it's about

This case involves Holocaust survivors suing the Hungarian government for property confiscated during World War II, relying on the expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that merely alleging that proceeds from seized property were commingled with general government funds is insufficient to establish the required commercial connection to the United States.

Question presented

1. Does historical commingling of assets suffice to establish that proceeds of seized property have a commercial nexus with the United States under the expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act? 2. Must a plaintiff make out a valid claim that an exception to the FSIA applies at the pleading stage, rather than merely raising a plausible inference? 3. Does a sovereign defendant bear the burden of producing evidence to affirmatively disprove that the proceeds of property taken in violation of international law have a commercial nexus with the United States under the expropriation exception to the FSIA?

Case path

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit / Decision released Feb 21, 2025

Area

Business and Regulation