(A) any United States citizen or alien ad-
mitted for permanent residence into the United
States; or
(B) any corporation, trust, partnership, or
other judicial entity established pursuant to the
laws of the United States or its several States
and territories.
(3) FOREIGN
ARBITRAL
AWARD.—The term
‘‘foreign arbitral award’’ means any arbitral award
to which the Convention applies.
SEC. 5. LIABILITY FOR VIOLATION OF THE CONVENTION.
(a) CIVIL REMEDY.—(1) Any foreign state that is
certified by the President under subsection (b) to have in-
jured a United States person through the state’s violation
of the Convention with respect to a foreign arbitral award
shall be liable to the United States person for money dam-
ages consisting of—
(A) the amount of the foreign arbitral award,
plus any interest provided for by the award; and
(B) the attorney’s fees and costs incurred by
the United States person in bringing an action
under this Act with respect to such certification.
(2) Actions may be brought under paragraph (1) with
respect to arbitral awards entered before, on, or after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) PRESIDENTIAL CERTIFICATION.—The President
may certify an injury to a United States person through
a violation of the Convention if—
(1)(A) a foreign state has failed to enforce a
foreign arbitral award entered in favor of that
United States person in violation of the state’s obli-
gations under the Convention; or
(B) a foreign state has impeded, in violation of
its obligations under the Convention, the enforce-
ment of a foreign arbitral award entered in favor of
that United States person such that the ability of
the United States person to collect the award may
reasonably be presumed to have been impaired or re-
duced; and
(2) the United States person has exhausted all
judicial and administrative remedies in the foreign
state in which the arbitral award is sought to be en-
forced, or the further pursuit of such remedies would
reasonably be considered to be futile.
(c) EFFECT OF PRESIDENTIAL CERTIFICATION.—A
Presidential certification that a United States person has
been injured by a foreign state’s violation of the Conven-
tion shall, in any action brought under this Act, establish
an evidentiary presumption that—
(1) the foreign state certified to have violated
the Convention has done so; and
(2) the damages suffered by the United States
person are equivalent to the amount of the award
plus interest, if any.
(d) JURISDICTION.—(1) Chapter 85 of title 28,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after section
1331 the following new section:
‘‘§ 1331a. Civil actions involving violations of the
Convention on the Recognition and En-
forcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
‘‘The district courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction,
without regard to the amount in controversy, of any action
brought under section 5 of the International Arbitration
Enforcement Act of 1999.’’.
(2) The table of sections for chapter 85 of title 28,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 1331 the following:
‘‘1331a. Civil actions involving violations of the Convention on the Recognition
and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.’’.
(e) WAIVER
OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—Section
1605 of title 28, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph
(6);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (7) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(8) in which the action is brought with respect
to violations of the Convention on the Recognition
and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards under
section 5 of the International Arbitration Enforce-
ment Act of 1999.’’.
(f) NO IMMUNITY FROM ATTACHMENT OR EXECU-
TION.—(1) Section 1610(a) of title 28, United States
Code, is amended—
(A) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (7) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(8) the judgment or attachment relates to a
claim for which the foreign state is not immune
under section 1605(a)(8), regardless of whether the
property is or was involved in or related to the act
giving rise to or upon which the claim is based.’’.
(2) Section 1610(b) of such title is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph
(1);
(B) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (2) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) the judgment or attachment relates to a
claim for which the foreign state is not immune
under section 1605(a)(8), regardless of whether the
property is or was involved in or related to the act
giving rise to or upon which the claim is based.’’.
(g) LIMITATIONS PERIOD.—An action under this Act
may be brought within one year after the President makes
the certification under subsection (b) on which the action
is based.
Æ