De Aliaga v. Spain

Linked with:

• Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. The Unidentified Shipwrecked Vessel
• Peru v. The Unidentified Shipwrecked Vessel

Issue: (1) Whether the Eleventh Circuit’s decision allowing Spain to claim sovereign immunity with regard to private commercial cargo lost from a Spanish ship destroys federal court jurisdiction over all maritime salvage from beneath international waters; (2) whether the Eleventh Circuit’s conclusion contradicts this Court’s decisions in California v. Deep Sea Research, Inc., Compania Espanola De Navegacion Maritima, S. A. v. The Navemar, The Pesaro, The Davis, The Siren, and United States v. Peters; and (3) whether the Eleventh Circuit’s conclusion works to fundamentally change the boundaries of “commercial activity” and the “private transaction exception” within the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and conflicts with this Court’s holdings in Republic of Argentina v. Weltover and United States v. Planters Bank of Georgia.

Briefs and Documents

Certiorari-stage documents

• Opinion below (11th Cir.)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Motion for leave to file out of time and amicus brief of Professional Marine Explorers Society, Inc. et al. (forthcoming)