Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-1450_5468.pdf
Page Number: 4.0

Cite as:  598 U. S. ____ (2023) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to  notify  the  Reporter  of 
Decisions,  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  Washington,  D. C.  20543, 
pio@supremecourt.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 21–1450 
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TURKIYE HALK BANKASI A. S., AKA HALKBANK, 
PETITIONER v. UNITED STATES 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT 

[April 19, 2023] 

JUSTICE KAVANAUGH delivered the opinion of the Court. 
The United States indicted Halkbank, a bank owned by 
the  Republic  of  Turkey,  for  conspiring  to  evade  U. S. 
economic  sanctions  against  Iran.    The  United  States 
brought the prosecution in the U. S. District Court for the 
Southern  District  of  New  York.  Halkbank  contends  that 
the  indictment  should  be  dismissed  because  the  general 
federal criminal jurisdiction statute, 18 U. S. C. §3231, does 
not  extend  to  prosecutions  of  instrumentalities  of  foreign 
states  such  as  Halkbank.  Halkbank  alternatively  argues
that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 provides 
instrumentalities of foreign states with absolute immunity 
from criminal prosecution in U. S. courts.

We disagree with Halkbank on both points.  We hold that 
the District Court has jurisdiction under 18 U. S. C. §3231
over the prosecution of Halkbank.  We further hold that the 
Foreign  Sovereign  Immunities  Act  does  not  provide
immunity  from  criminal  prosecution.  With  respect  to  an 
additional  common-law  immunity  argument  raised  by 
Halkbank, we vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals 
and remand.