Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States
United States Supreme Court
598 U.S. 264 (2022)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Halkbank (defendant), a Turkish bank, was indicted by the United States for conspiring to evade United States economic sanctions against Iran. Halkbank filed a motion to dismiss the indictment based on a claim that the criminal jurisdiction of federal courts did not extend to foreign-owned entities. The federal criminal-jurisdiction statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3231, provided jurisdiction over “all offenses against the laws of the United States.” Halkbank argued that provisions in various civil and bankruptcy statutes explicitly referenced foreign actors and that § 3231’s omission of any such reference meant that foreign actors were excluded from criminal jurisdiction. Alternatively, Halkbank argued that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) applied to criminal prosecutions. Halkbank pointed to 28 U.S.C. § 1604, which stated that a “foreign state shall be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States and of the States except as provided in sections 1605 and 1607 of this chapter.”
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kavanaugh, J.)
Concurrence/Dissent (Gorsuch, J.)
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