Bay of Campeche oil spill: obtaining jurisdiction over Petroleos Mexicanos under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981 · Ecol. Law Q.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6432757

Leventhal, F D

A massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico during the summer of 1979 affords the opportunity to consider application of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) as a basis for US interests injured by transboundary pollution to obtain jurisdiction over a foreign stateowned polluter in this country's courts. The author first outlines the development of sovereign-immunity law in the United States prior to the enactment of the FSIA and describes the operation and effect of the 1976 legislation. He then considers the application of the FSIA to the facts of the suits filed against Pemex; he concludes that the plaintiffs should be able to obtain jurisdiction over Pemex in a US court. The availability of jurisdiction under the FSIA to injured parties in future transboundary pollution actions is in doubt, however, because of a reference in the legislative history of the FSIA to the District of Columbia's long-arm statute and the history of judicial caution in cases involving international disputes. Courts may interpret the reference to the District of Columbia statute to mean that a pollution injury alone will not be enough to warrant assumption of personal jurisdiction. Requiring the plaintiffs in the Pemex case and injured parties in future cases to demonstrate some additional contacts by a foreign defendant aside from the pollution injury itself would limit use of the FSIA as a basis for obtaining jurisdiction over the foreign polluter. Nevertheless, this Comment recommends that because of ambiguity in the portion of the legislative history that concerns the scope of personal jurisdiction under the FSIA and the considerable foreign policy implications of the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction, US courts should adopt this more-restrictive interpretation of the FSIA. 238 references.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Berkeley
• OSTI ID: 6432757
• Journal Information: Ecol. Law Q.; (United States), Journal Name: Ecol. Law Q.; (United States) Vol. 9:2; ISSN ECLQA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
021000 -- Petroleum-- Legislation & Regulations
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
294002* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Petroleum
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARIBBEAN SEA
FOREIGN POLICY
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
GULF OF MEXICO
LEGAL ASPECTS
LIABILITIES
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SPILLS
POLLUTION
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
TRANSFRONTIER POLLUTION
USA