Republic of Sudan v. Harrison

• Decision Date: 26 March 2019
• Docket Number: No. 16-1094,16-1094
• Citation: 139 S.Ct. 1048,203 L.Ed.2d 433
• Parties: REPUBLIC OF SUDAN, Petitioner v. Rick HARRISON, et al.
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

139 S.Ct. 1048

203 L.Ed.2d 433

REPUBLIC OF SUDAN, Petitioner

v.Rick HARRISON, et al.

No. 16-1094

Supreme Court of the United States.

Argued November 7, 2018

Decided March 26, 2019

Christopher M. Curran, Washington, DC, for Petitioner.

Kannon K. Shanmugam, Washington, DC, for Respondents.

Erica Ross for the United States as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, supporting the Petitioner.

Andrew C. Hall, Roarke Maxwell, Hall, Lamb, Hall & Leto, P.A., Miami FL, Nelson M. Jones III, Houston, TX, Kannon K. Shanmugam, Masha G. Hansford, Benjamin E. Moskowitz, J. Matthew Rice, Williams & Connolly LLP, Washington, DC, Kevin E. Martingayle, Bischoff Martingayle, P.C., Virginia Beach, VA, for Respondents.

Christopher M. Curran, Nicole Erb, Claire A. DeLelle, Nicolle Kownacki, Celia A. McLaughlin, White & Case LLP, Washington, DC, for Petitioner.

Justice ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case concerns the requirements applicable to a particular method of serving civil process on a foreign state. Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA), a foreign state may be served by means of a mailing that is "addressed and dispatched ... to the head of the ministry of foreign affairs of the foreign state concerned." 28 U.S.C. § 1608(a)(3). The question now before us is whether this provision is satisfied when a service packet that names the foreign minister is mailed to the foreign state's embassy in the United States. We hold that it is not. Most naturally read, § 1608(a)(3) requires that a mailing be sent directly to the foreign minister's office in the minister's home country.

I

A

Under the FSIA, a foreign state is immune from the jurisdiction of courts in this country unless one of several enumerated exceptions to immunity applies. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1604, 1605 – 1607. If a suit falls within one of these exceptions, the FSIA provides subject-matter jurisdiction in federal district courts. § 1330(a). The FSIA also provides for personal jurisdiction "where service has been made under section 1608." § 1330(b).

Section 1608(a) governs service of process on "a foreign state or political subdivision of a foreign state." § 1608(a) ; Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 4(j)(1). In particular, it sets out in hierarchical order the following four methods by which "[s]ervice ... shall be made." 28 U.S.C. § 1608(a). The first method is by delivery of a copy of the summons and complaint "in accordance with any special arrangement for service between the plaintiff and the foreign state or political subdivision." § 1608(a)(1). "[I]f no special arrangement exists," service may be made by the second method, namely, delivery of a copy of the summons and complaint "in accordance with an applicable international convention on service of judicial documents." § 1608(a)(2). If service is not possible under either of the first two methods, the third method, which is the one at issue in this case, may be used. This method calls for

"sending a copy of the summons and complaint and a notice of suit, together with a translation of each into the official language of the foreign state, by any form of mail requiring a signed receipt, to be addressed and dispatched by the clerk of the court to the head of the ministry of foreign affairs of the foreign state concerned ." § 1608(a)(3) (emphasis added).

Finally, if service cannot be made within 30 days under § 1608(a)(3), service may be effected by sending the service packet "by any form of mail requiring a signed receipt, to be addressed and dispatched by the clerk of the court to the Secretary of State in Washington, District of Columbia," for transmittal "through diplomatic channels to the foreign state." § 1608(a)(4).

Once served, a foreign state or political subdivision has 60 days to file a responsive pleading. § 1608(d). If the foreign state or political subdivision does not do this, it runs the risk of incurring a default judgment. See § 1608(e). A copy of any such default judgment must be "sent to the foreign state or political subdivision in the [same] manner prescribed for service." Ibid.

B

On October 12, 2000, the USS Cole , a United States Navy guided-missile destroyer, entered the harbor of Aden, Yemen, for what was intended to be a brief refueling stop. While refueling was underway, a small boat drew along the side of the Cole , and the occupants of the boat detonated explosives that tore a hole in the side of the Cole . Seventeen crewmembers were killed, and dozens more were injured. Al Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Respondents in this case are victims of the USS Cole bombing and their family members. In 2010, respondents sued petitioner, the Republic of Sudan, alleging that Sudan had provided material support to al Qaeda for the bombing. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1605A(a)(1), (c). Because respondents brought suit under the FSIA, they were required to serve Sudan with process under § 1608(a). It is undisputed that service could not be made under § 1608(a)(1) or § 1608(a)(2), and respondents therefore turned to § 1608(a)(3). At respondents' request, the clerk of the court sent the service packet, return receipt requested, to: "Republic of Sudan, Deng Alor Koul, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of Sudan, 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008." App. 172. The clerk certified that the service packet had been sent and, a few days later, certified that a signed receipt had been returned.¹ After Sudan failed to appear in the litigation, the District Court for the District of Columbia held an evidentiary hearing and entered a $314 million default judgment against Sudan. Again at respondents' request, the clerk of the court mailed a copy of the default judgment in the same manner that the clerk had previously used. See § 1608(e).

With their default judgment in hand, respondents turned to the District Court for the Southern District of New York, where they sought to register the judgment and satisfy it through orders requiring several banks to turn over Sudanese assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1963 (providing for registration of judgments for enforcement in other districts). Pursuant to § 1610(c), the District Court entered an order confirming that a sufficient period of time had elapsed following the entry and notice of the default judgment, and the court then issued three turnover orders.

At this point, Sudan made an appearance for the purpose of contesting jurisdiction. It filed a notice of appeal from each of the three turnover orders and contended on appeal that the default judgment was invalid for lack of personal jurisdiction. In particular, Sudan maintained that § 1608(a)(3) required that the service packet be sent to its foreign minister at his principal office in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and not to the Sudanese Embassy in the United States.

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected this argument and affirmed the orders of the District Court. 802 F.3d 399 (2015). The Second Circuit reasoned that, although § 1608(a)(3) requires that a service packet be mailed "to the head of the ministry of foreign affairs of the foreign state concerned," the statute "is silent as to a specific location where the mailing is to be addressed." Id., at 404. In light of this, the court concluded that "the method chosen by plaintiffs—a mailing addressed to the minister of foreign affairs at the embassy—was consistent with the language of the statute and could reasonably be expected to result in delivery to the intended person." Ibid.

Sudan filed a petition for rehearing, and the United States filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Sudan's petition. The panel ordered supplemental briefing and heard additional oral argument, but it once again affirmed, reiterating its view that § 1608(a)(3)"does not specify that the mailing be sent to the head of the ministry of foreign affairs in the foreign country." 838 F.3d 86, 91 (CA2 2016). The court thereafter denied Sudan's petition for rehearing en banc.

Subsequent to the Second Circuit's decision, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held in a similar case that § 1608(a)(3)"does not authorize delivery of service to a foreign state's embassy even if it correctly identifies the intended recipient as the head of the ministry of foreign affairs." Kumar v. Republic of Sudan , 880 F.3d 144, 158 (2018), cert. pending, No. 17–1269.

We granted certiorari to resolve this conflict. 585 U.S. ––––, 138 S.Ct. 2671, 201 L.Ed.2d 1070 (2018)

II

A

The question before us concerns the meaning of § 1608(a)(3), and in interpreting that provision, "[w]e begin ‘where all such inquiries must begin: with the language of the statute itself.’ " Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. v. Novo Nordisk A/S , 566 U.S. 399, 412, 132 S.Ct. 1670, 182 L.Ed.2d 678 (2012) (quoting United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc. , 489 U.S. 235, 241, 109 S.Ct. 1026, 103 L.Ed.2d 290 (1989) ). As noted, § 1608(a)(3) requires that service be sent "by any form of mail requiring a signed receipt, to be addressed and dispatched by the clerk of the court to the head of the ministry of foreign affairs of the foreign state concerned."

The most natural reading of this language is that service must be mailed directly to the foreign minister's office in the foreign state. Although this is not, we grant, the only plausible reading of the statutory text, it is the most natural one. See, e.g., United States v. Hohri , 482 U.S. 64, 69–71, 107 S.Ct. 2246, 96 L.Ed.2d 51 (1987) (choosing the "more natural" reading of a statute); ICC v. Texas , 479 U.S. 450, 456–457, 107 S.Ct. 787, 93 L.Ed.2d 809 (1987) (same); see also Florida Dept. of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc. , 554 U.S. 33, 41, 128 S.Ct. 2326, 171 L.Ed.2d 203 (2008) (similar).

A key term in § 1608(a)(3) is the past participle "addressed." A letter or package is "addressed" to an intended recipient when his or her name and "address" is placed on the outside of the item to be sent. And the noun "address," in the sense...