461 U.S. 480 (1983), United States Supreme Court
Verlinden B.V. v.
Does the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act validly confer federal subject-matter jurisdiction over civil actions against foreign states—including suits brought by foreign plaintiffs—consistent with Article III's requirement that cases in federal court arise under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States?
Under the FSIA, federal district courts have original subject-matter jurisdiction over any nonjury civil action against a foreign state as to any claim for which the foreign state is not entitled to immunity under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1604–1607. 28 U.S.C. § 1330(a). For constitutional purposes, an action against a foreign state necessarily arises under federal law because the plaintiff's ability to proceed depends on the application of federal sovereign-immunity standards established by the FSIA. Thus, Congress may constitutionally confer jurisdiction over suits against foreign states in federal courts, even when the plaintiff is a foreign citizen and the underlying cause of action is nonfederal.
Yes. The FSIA's grant of federal subject-matter jurisdiction in § 1330(a) is constitutional. Any action brought against a foreign state in a U.S. court necessarily presents a federal question—the availability or nonavailability of sovereign immunity under the FSIA—and therefore arises under federal law for purposes of Article III. A foreign plaintiff may sue a foreign state in U.S. federal court, provided an FSIA immunity exception applies.
Verlinden anchors the FSIA at the center of U.S. litigation against foreign states and clarifies that such suits belong in federal court because they necessarily present a dispositive federal question: sovereign immunity under federal statute. For Federal Courts students, the case is a leading exposition of Article III's arising-under power and the Osborn federal-ingredient approach, illustrating that jurisdiction can be proper even when the substantive cause of action is nonfederal and the parties are foreign. For international and transnational litigators, Verlinden ensures uniform national treatment of foreign sovereign immunity issues and lays the groundwork for later FSIA jurisprudence on commercial activity, execution of judgments, and the exclusivity of the FSIA as the framework governing suits against foreign sovereigns.