Opinion ID: 215188
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Military Claims Act, Alien Tort Statute, and Treaties

Text: The Military Claims Act does not mention, and therefore does not waive, sovereign immunity. See Murphy ex rel. Estate of Payne v. United States, 340 F.Supp.2d 160, 171 (D.Conn.2004) (The [Military Claims Act] does not waive the Government's sovereign immunity, but instead merely authorizes the Secretary to settle claims (including disallowing claims) at his or her discretion and under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.), adopted, 427 F.3d 158, 159 (2d Cir.2005) (per curiam) (We affirm on the well-reasoned opinion of the District Court.). [T]he Alien Tort Statute has been interpreted as a jurisdiction statute only it has not been held to imply any waiver of sovereign immunity. Goldstar (Panama) S.A. v. United States, 967 F.2d 965, 968 (4th Cir. 1992) (citing Sanchez-Espinoza v. Reagan, 770 F.2d 202, 207 (D.C.Cir.1985); Canadian Transp. Co. v. United States, 663 F.2d 1081, 1092 (D.C.Cir.1980)). Thus, any party asserting jurisdiction under the Alien Tort Statute must establish, independent of that statute, that the United States has consented to suit. Id. The United States has signed, but has not ratified, the Convention on the Law of the Sea. In the absence of congressional action, the Convention does not waive sovereign immunity. The United States has ratified the ICCPR. But that treaty is not self-executing and therefore did not itself create obligations enforceable in the federal courts. Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692, 735, 124 S.Ct. 2739, 159 L.Ed.2d 718 (2004). Finally, the bilateral treaty concerning the Air Force base at Manta, Ecuador, concerns, naturally enough, the Air Force base at Manta, Ecuador, which played no part in the Coast Guard's actions here. The treaty does not mention the Coast Guard, payment for the types of damage alleged by Plaintiffs, judicial remedies, or sovereign immunity. That being so, the treaty does not waive the United States' sovereign immunity.