Opinion ID: 623016
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Iraqi Law

Text: There are two considerations in determining whether the action would be barred under Iraqi law. The first is whether CPA Order 17, effectively a component of Iraqi law for our purposes, bars the suit in the manner relevant under the Louisiana Civil Code Article 3549(B). That Code section is entitled Law governing liberative prescription. The potential bar of another state becomes relevant only when the prescription and peremption law of this state, i.e., Louisiana, would bar the suit. La. Civ.Code art. 3549(B)(1). Consequently, the bar that is relevant is the comparable limitations period in the foreign state. It could be argued that because this specific claim cannot be brought in Iraq due to CPA Order 17, it is barred for all purposes including those under Article 3549. It would be fair to say that Iraqi courts at the time of Sergeant Everett's death would not entertain a suit brought against a Louisiana-resident company who contracted with the Coalition Provisional Authority and whose alleged negligence while performing under that contract caused the death of a service member in Iraq. Thus, perhaps there is no limitations period applicable to such a suit that can be applied. Whether that is the right view, or whether we only need to know what the Iraqi limitations period would be for personal injuries claims generally, is a matter to be decided under Louisiana law inasmuch as it is that state's choice-of-law rules we are interpreting. Both Article 3543 and 3549 are relevant. As we have stated, Article 3543 adopts the standards of conduct and safety . . . of the state in which the conduct that caused the injury occurred. La. Civ.Code art. 3543. That Article has been authoritatively interpreted to be based on the sense that the conduct-regulating rules of the jurisdiction in which the conduct occurred should usually apply. When acting outside the state of their domicile, neither the tortfeasor nor the victim should be allowed to carry with them the conduct-regulating law of the state of their origin. La. Civ.Code art. 3543 cmt. (c). Article 3549(B) provides in certain circumstances for applying a more forgiving limitations period from the foreign state whose law would be applicable to the merits of the suit. La. Civ.Code art. 3549(B)(1). CPA Order 17 provides that Arkel is immune from Iraqi legal process, but it does not in any apparent way bar the application of Iraqi law to the conduct if some other forum for the claim exists. Louisiana is potentially such a forum. The language of Article 3549(B) is that a suit shall be dismissed unless it would not be barred in the other state whose law applies to the merits. The provision does not suggest we should examine whether legal process could reach the defendant in Iraq. The bar with which Article 3549(B) is concerned is whether the time for bringing suit has expired in the foreign state. CPA Order 17 effectively prevents an Iraqi court from acquiring personal jurisdiction over Arkel. That sort of limitation is not relevant under Article 3549(B). In conclusion on this issue, we summarize the key provisions. Louisiana choice-of-law rules borrow the substantive law of Iraq for standards of conduct and safety. No one has argued that Iraqi law is without standards of conduct and safety applicable to the kind of event that killed Sergeant Everett. For our purposes, Iraqi law also includes CPA Order 17. Section 4(3) of the Order immunized Arkel from Iraqi legal process. That means Arkel could not be brought before any court in Iraq on the claim. Section 18 of CPA Order 17, claims such as this are to be submitted and dealt with consistently with Louisiana law. We are applying Louisiana law to this claim. We next turn to whether the relevant Iraqi statute of limitation would bar the suit. The plaintiffs claim a three-year prescriptive period applies under Iraqi law. Before we can even decide if that is true, we must first decide whether Iraqi law has been proven under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 44.1.