Opinion ID: 185842
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: 14 On appeal Nemariam first argues that the Commission is an inadequate forum because, even if her claim is valid, she has no personal right to a remedy from the Commission. Second, Nemariam argues that the Commission is an inadequate forum because she may not file a claim before the Commission and she has no control over any claim Eritrea may file on her behalf. Third, Nemariam contends that the district court misapplied the private and public interest factors. Finally, Nemariam argues that Ethiopia waived its right to seek dismissal on the basis of forum non conveniens when it agreed that the Commission shall be the sole forum for adjudicating claims except for ... claims filed in another forum prior to the effective date of this [Peace] Agreement. Art. 5, ¶ 8. 15 We review the district court's order dismissing the case for a clear abuse of discretion. Piper, 454 U.S. at 257, 102 S.Ct. at 266. Because we agree with Nemariam's first point, we do not reach her other arguments. 16 Because Nemariam lacks a personal right to a remedy from the Commission, she argues that any remedy provided by the [Commission to Eritrea with respect to her claim] is so clearly inadequate or unsatisfactory that it is no remedy at all. Piper, 454 U.S. at 254, 102 S.Ct. at 265. We think that the Commission's inability to make an award directly to Nemariam, and the possibility that Eritrea could set off Nemariam's claims or even an award in her favor against claims made by or an award in favor of Ethiopia, render the Commission an inadequate forum. 17 First, it appears, as Nemariam says, the Commission cannot award any relief directly to her. Nothing in the Peace Agreement authorizes the Commission to make an award to anybody other than Eritrea or Ethiopia, the parties before the Commission. Although it is true that Article 5, ¶ 9 allows Eritrea to bring a claim on behalf of persons [like the plaintiffs] of... Eritrean origin who may not be its nationals, Eritrea would presumably control the disposition of any resulting award. 18 Second, it appears Eritrea may set off Nemariam's claim or an award in her favor against any claims or awards that Ethiopia may have against Eritrea. Under international law, Eritrea is the master of its own claim before the Commission and may keep or barter any remedy awarded by the Commission. See Restatement (Third) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 902, cmt. I (1987) (The state may determine what international remedies to pursue, may abandon the claim, or settle it). It is irrelevant whether the Commission currently contemplates that any awards to the respective governments will be set off by them against each other. What matters is that Eritrea and Ethiopia have that option. In fact, Eritrea and Ethiopia may bypass the Commission entirely in resolving their claims. See Agreement, Art. 5, ¶ 16 (The parties may agree at any time to settle outstanding claims, individually or by categories, through direct negotiation or by reference to another mutually agreed settlement mechanism). Unless Ethiopia can negate these possibilities, we think they render the Commission an inadequate alternative to the district court. 19 Ethiopia's response is two-fold. First, it points out that Eritrea has stated before the Commission that it intends to give directly to the claimant any award made to it for a taking of private property. Ethiopia does not deny that the Commission cannot require Eritrea to pass through to Nemariam any award it may receive with respect to the claim it has filed on her behalf. Rather, Ethiopia claims that Eritrea intends voluntarily to distribute awards to individual claimants. 20 Eritrea has indeed indicated in a memorandum to the Commission that Eritrea believes that, as a general matter, awards should be given directly to claimants.... Financial compensation for large amounts of property damage should also be given directly to the individual victims. By invoking those statements, however, Ethiopia is asking Nemariam and this court to rely upon the goodwill of Eritrea, not upon the power of the Commission to enforce its judgments. In this vein, we note that Eritrea has also recognized the possibility — albeit in circumstances apparently different from those alleged in the present case — that an individual with a meritorious claim might not receive any compensation: In the same memorandum, Eritrea informed the Commission that the practical difficulties of individual distribution might outweigh the desirability of individualized compensation. Therefore, Ethiopia is unable to substantiate its claim that Nemariam will receive a remedy if Eritrea succeeds in prosecuting her claim before the Commission. 21 Second, Ethiopia argues that we should follow Gonzalez v. Chrysler Corp., 301 F.3d 377 (2002), in which the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a case on the ground of forum non conveniens even though it was unlikely the plaintiff would receive in the alternative forum — namely, a Mexican court — a remedy adequate by United States standards. In Gonzalez the law of the alternative forum did provide a remedy, but it capped the potential recovery at a modest $2500, and the plaintiff alleged he would not bring the suit in Mexico because the costs of doing so would outweigh the potential recovery. In this case, however, Ethiopia cannot assure Nemariam of recovering any award at all, even if the Commission upholds her claim in full. While a more limited recovery than is available in the plaintiff's forum of choice does not automatically make the alternative forum inadequate, we fail to see how an alternative forum in which the plaintiff can recover nothing for a valid claim may also be deemed adequate. In other words, it would be peculiar indeed to dismiss Nemariam's claim in the United States District Court — a forum in which, assuming the court has jurisdiction, she is certain to be awarded full relief if she wins on the merits of her claim — in favor of a forum in which she has no certainty of getting any relief for a meritorious claim. 22 We conclude that the Commission's inability to make an award directly to Nemariam, and Eritrea's ability to set off Nemariam's claim, or an award to Eritrea based upon her claim, against claims made by or an award in favor of Ethiopia, render the Commission an inadequate forum; the remedy provided by the alternative forum is so clearly inadequate or unsatisfactory that it is no remedy at all. Piper, 454 U.S. at 254, 102 S.Ct. at 265. In so saying, we recognize that the decision is a close one, particularly in the light of our limited standard of review and the district court's observation, with which we agree, that there is nothing in the record to suggest the plaintiffs' awards will be set off against debts owed by Eritrea to Ethiopia. Neither, however, is there any legal barrier to such a set off.