The Law of Sovereign Immunity and Terrorism

The war against terrorism has a new front: the courtrooms of America. When his friend became the first hostage held in Baghdad during the Persian Gulf War in 1992, James Cooper-Hill became engaged in litigation against three terrorist nations: Iraq, Libya, and Sudan. Of the three judgements against Iraq that have been paid, two of them are cases where the author represented the plaintiff. In this path-breaking treatise on the subject, Cooper-Hill takes the reader through the history of sovereign immunity in English-speaking countries and then through the many stages involved when trying to thwart sovereign immunity and obtain damages against terrorist nations. Topics covered include pre-statutory U.S. administrative procedure, pre-1976 statutory exemptions, due process requirements, and collateral international terrorism law.