No. 19-351

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In The

Supreme ourt of the United States

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♦

 --------------------------------- F

EDERAL

 R

EPUBLIC

 

OF

 G

ERMANY 

, a foreign state, and S

TIFTUNG

 P

REUSSICHER

 K 

ULTURBESITZ

,

 Petitioners,

 v.  A 

LAN

 P

HILIPP

, et al.,

 Respondents.

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♦

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On Writ of Certiorari To The United States Court of Appeals For The D.C. Circuit

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BRIEF FOR PETITIONERS

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♦

 --------------------------------- D

 AVID

 L. H

 ALL

 W

IGGIN

 

 AND

 D

 ANA 

 LLP Two Liberty Place 50 S. 16th Street Suite 2925 Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 998-8310

ONATHAN

 M. F

REIMAN

 

Counsel of Record

 ADHG

 D

OOLEY 

 B

ENJAMIN

 M. D

 ANIELS

 D

 AVID

 R. R

OTH

 

IGGIN

 

 AND

 D

 ANA 

 LLP 265 Church Street P.O. Box 1832 New Haven, CT 06508-1832 (203) 498-4400 freiman@wiggin.com

Counsel for Petitioners

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COCKLE LEGAL BRIEFS (800) 225-6964 WWW.COCKLELEGALBRIEFS.COM

 

i

QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR REVIEW

(1) Whether the “expropriation exception” of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(3), which abrogates foreign sovereign immunity when “rights in property taken in viola-tion of international law are in issue,” provides ju-risdiction over claims that a foreign state violated international human-rights law by taking prop-erty from its own national within its own borders, even though such claims do not implicate the es-tablished customary international law addressing states’ expropriation of property. (2) Whether the doctrine of international comity is unavailable in cases against foreign sovereigns, even in cases of considerable historical and politi-cal signi󿬁cance to the foreign sovereign and where the foreign nation has a domestic framework for addressing the claims.

 

ii

PARTIES TO PROCEEDINGS AND CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Petitioners are Federal Republic of Germany (“Germany”), a sovereign nation, and Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (“SPK”), a German govern-mental institution comprising museums, archives, and research institutions. Neither is a corporation, has a corporate parent, or is owned in whole or part by any publicly held company. Respondents are U.K. citizen Alan Philipp and U.S. citizens Gerald Stiebel and Jed Leiber.