Republic of Iraq v. ABB AG
| Court | United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York |
| Citation | 920 F.Supp.2d 517 |
| Docket Number | No. 08 Civ. 5951(SHS).,08 Civ. 5951(SHS). |
| Parties | The REPUBLIC OF IRAQ, including as Parens Patriae on behalf of the Citizens of the Republic of Iraq, Plaintiff, v. ABB AG, et al., Defendants. |
| Decision Date | 06 February 2013 |
920 F.Supp.2d 517
The REPUBLIC OF IRAQ, including as Parens Patriae on behalf of the Citizens of the Republic of Iraq, Plaintiff,
v.
ABB AG, et al., Defendants.
No. 08 Civ. 5951(SHS).
United States District Court,
S.D. New York.
Feb. 6, 2013.
[920 F.Supp.2d 521]
Christian Patrick Siebott, Stanley D. Bernstein, Brian Lehman, Bernstein Liebhard, LLP, Mark Maney, Maney & Gonzalez–Felix PC, Roliff Holmes Purrington, Burford & Maney P.C., Houston, TX, for Plaintiff.
James Philip Gillespie, John R. Bolton, Mark Champoux, Robert B. Gilmore, Thomas David Yannucci, Brant Warren Bishop, Ragan Naresh, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Mark H. Lynch, O. Thomas Johnson, Jr., Covington & Burling, L.L.P., Robert Stephen Bennett, Ellen Swennes Kennedy, Hogan Lovells U.S. LLP, Jennifer Lynn Spaziano, William John O'Brien, III, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Philip Eric Urofsky, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Michael Evan Horowitz, James K. Robinson, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP, Robert P. Parker, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Richard D. Klingler, Sidley Austin LLP, Gregory L. Baker, Baker & Hostetler LLP, Robert A. Van Kirk, Katherine M. Turner, Philip A. Sechler, Williams & Connolly LLP,
[920 F.Supp.2d 522]
Michael R Miner, Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP, Washington, DC, S. Alyssa Young, Leader & Berkon LLP, Aaron Hirsch Mendelsohn, Daniel Nathan Anziska, Elliot Cohen, Troutman Sanders LLP, Nancy Lynn Kestenbaum, Covington & Burling LLP, Robert H. Baron, Timothy Gray Cameron, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, H. Miriam Farber, Danforth Newcomb, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Thomas E. Lynch, Meir Feder, Phineas Edward Leahey, Chris J. Lopata, Jones Day, Jason Jurgens, Nathan Marshall Bull, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, Joann Kahn, Mark Allen Robertson, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., David I. Zalman, Melissa Errine Byroade, Thomas Benjamin Kinzler, Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP, Kenneth J. King, Pepper Hamilton, LLP, Dorothy Jane Spenner, Andrew Douglas Hart, Sidley Austin LLP, Mark S. Landman, Landman Corsi Ballain & Ford PC, John Patrick Doherty, Jennifer Susan Kozar, Karl Geercken, Alston & Bird, LLP, Peter Louis Altieri, David John Clark, Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C., Brian Stryker Weinstein, Jason Bradley McCullough, Davis Polk & Wardwell L.L.P., John David Harkrider, Evan Saul Storm, Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, Judith Ann Lockhart, Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, Clay J. Pierce, Marsha Jessica Indych, Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP, David Harold Braff, Penny Shane, Steven Robert Peikin, Sullivan and Cromwell, LLP, Andrew Hunter Reynard, Allen & Overy, LLP, Walter P. Loughlin, K & L Gates LLP, Casey Devin Laffey, Reed Smith, John Federick Pritchard, Pillsbury, Winthrop, LLP, Ranah Leila Esmaili, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP, Steve Orlikoff, Darrell Prescott, Lawrence Walker Newman, Baker & McKenzie LLP, New York, NY, Christopher S. Riley, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Indianapolis, IL, David Stephen Toy, David S. Toy, Esq., Francis I. Spagnoletti, Spagnoletti & Co., John L. Shoemaker, El Paso Corporation, Leland Curtis De La Garza, Timothy David Zeiger, Shabana N. Qaiser, Esq., Houston, TX, Philip Warren Crawford, Jennifer Marino Thibodaux, Gibbons P.C., Thomas R. Valen, Gibbons, Del Deo et al., Newark, NJ, Larry R. Schmadeka, Lee, Hong, Degerman, Kang & Schmadeka, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Robert Barnes Calihan, Calihan Law PLLC, Roch, NY, Pamela Kayatta Riewerts, Bowie & Jensen, LLC, Towson, MD, Brett A. Spain, Willcox & Savage P.C., Norfolk, VA, David M. Ryan, Fred A. Kelly, Jr., Nixon Peabody LLP, Boston, MA, John G. Harkins, Jr., Harkins Cunningham LLP, Gregory P. Miller, Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP, Philadelphia, PA, James William Abbott Ladner, St. Jude Medical, Inc., St. Paul, MN, Amy K. Pohl, Michael H. Ginsberg Jones Day, Pittsburgh, PA, Carl A. Parker, The Parker Law Firm, Port Arthur, TX, Hector Canales, Tony Canales, Canales & Simonsen, Courpus Christi, TX, J.A. Canales, Canales & Simonson, P.C., Corpus Christi, TX, Casey L. Westover, Richard Wray, Reed Smith LLP, Gregory J. Wallance, Kaye Scholer LLP, Chicago, IL, for Defendants.
SIDNEY H. STEIN, District Judge.
+--------+
¦Contents¦
+--------¦
¦ ¦
+--------+
+-----------------------------------+
¦I. ¦Background ¦524¦
+-----------------------------------+
+-------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦A.¦The Iraqi sanctions ¦524 ¦
+----+--+------------------------------------+----¦
¦ ¦B.¦The Oil–for–Food Programme in Design¦525 ¦
+-------------------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦ ¦1.¦The UN escrow account ¦526 ¦
+----+---+--+-----------------------------------+----¦
¦ ¦ ¦2.¦Oil sales ¦526 ¦
+----+---+--+-----------------------------------+----¦
¦ ¦ ¦3.¦Goods purchases ¦526 ¦
+----------------------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦C. ¦The Oil–for–Food Programme in practice¦526 ¦
+----------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦ ¦1.¦Oil sales ¦527 ¦
+----+---+--+------------------------------------+----¦
¦ ¦ ¦2.¦Purchases from vendor-defendants ¦528 ¦
+----+---+--+------------------------------------+----¦
¦ ¦ ¦3.¦BNP maintained the UN Escrow Account¦529 ¦
+----+---+--+------------------------------------+----¦
¦ ¦ ¦4.¦The Programme's end ¦529 ¦
+-----------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦D.¦This action ¦529 ¦
+------------------------------------------+
+---------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
+----+-----------------------------------------+----¦
¦II. ¦Legal Standard for Motion to Dismiss ¦530 ¦
+----+-----------------------------------------+----¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
+----+-----------------------------------------+----¦
¦III.¦Justiciability ¦530 ¦
+---------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦A.¦Article III standing ¦530 ¦
+------------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦ ¦1. ¦Iraq has standing to recover for an injury to its ¦531 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦proprietary interests ¦ ¦
+------+----+---+-----------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦ ¦2. ¦Iraq has no standing to pursue its quasi-sovereign ¦532 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦interests as parens patriae ¦ ¦
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦B.¦Act of state doctrine ¦533 ¦
+---+--+------------------------------+----¦
¦ ¦C.¦Political question doctrine ¦534 ¦
+------------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
+------+-------------------------------------------------------------+-------¦
¦IV. ¦The Relationship Between the Current Government of Iraq and ¦535 ¦
¦ ¦the Hussein Regime ¦ ¦
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦A. ¦Sovereigns may be held to account for the wrongful ¦536 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦governmental conduct of their governments ¦ ¦
+------+----+---------------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦B. ¦Governmental conduct is conduct taken under color of ¦537 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦authority ¦ ¦
+------+----+---------------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦C. ¦The Complaint alleges that the Hussein Regime's Programme¦538 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦misconduct was governmental ¦ ¦
+------+----+---------------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦D. ¦The nature of the Hussein Regime's conduct does not ¦539 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦absolve Iraq of responsibility for that conduct ¦ ¦
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦The Complaint does not allege that the Hussein Regime¦ ¦
¦ ¦ ¦1. ¦committed acts of personal misconduct as distinct ¦539 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦from governmental misconduct ¦ ¦
+------+----+---+-----------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦The legitimacy of the Hussein Regime does not ¦ ¦
¦ ¦ ¦2. ¦determine Iraq's responsibility for the Regime's ¦541 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦conduct ¦ ¦
+------+----+---+-----------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦The legality of the Hussein Regime's acts does not ¦ ¦
¦ ¦ ¦3. ¦determine Iraq's responsibility for the Regime's ¦541 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦conduct ¦ ¦
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
+-----+--------------------------------------------------+-----¦
¦V. ¦Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act¦542 ¦
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦A. ¦Iraq alleges that defendants violated RICO by corrupting ¦543 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦the Programme ¦ ¦
+------+----+---------------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦B. ¦Iraq impermissibly attempts to apply the RICO statutes ¦543 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦extraterritorially ¦ ¦
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦RICO claims that focus on an extraterritorial ¦ ¦
¦ ¦ ¦1. ¦enterprise or concern extraterritorial patterns of ¦543 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦racketeering activity are not actionable ¦ ¦
+------+----+---+-----------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦ ¦2. ¦Iraq's Complaint demonstrates that its claim is ¦544 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦extraterritorial ¦ ¦
+------+----+---+-----------------------------------------------------+------¦
¦ ¦ ¦3. ¦Under either test, Iraq calls for an impermissible ¦546 ¦
¦ ¦ ¦ ¦extraterritorial application of the RICO statute ¦ ¦...To continue reading
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