The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal in the controversy between Hungary and Holocaust survivors regarding property confiscations during World War II. This marks the second instance the Supreme Court will address this case. The case, Republic of Hungary v. Simon, was initiated by fourteen Holocaust survivors in 2010, who claimed Hungary’s government confiscated their property before deporting them to concentration camps.
The central legal matter revolves around the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), which generally provides foreign states immunity from lawsuits in the US, barring certain exceptions involving international law violations. Notably, in a 2021 related ruling, Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp, the Supreme Court determined that the FSIA exception did not apply to forced sales supporting genocide, focusing instead on expropriation under international law and remanding Republic of Hungary v. Simon for further proceedings consistent with that decision.
Hungary’s recent appeal focuses on conflicting lower court precedents and questions FSIA exception requirements. The Supreme Court will consider whether the historical commingling of assets meets the requirement for a commercial nexus with the US and whether the burden of disproving such a commercial nexus lies with Hungary. A critical component of the case is whether plaintiffs must establish a valid FSIA exception claim at the pleading stage or merely raise a plausible inference.
Follow this link for further details on the rehearing and its implications.