Professor Keitner Cited in Second Circuit/Supreme Court Halkbank Case

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cited an article by Professor Chimène Keitner in U.S. v. Türkiye Halk Bankasi A.Ş. 

The court ruled in October that Türkiye Halk Bankasi A.Ş (Halkbank), a commercial bank owned by the Turkish government, lacks foreign sovereignty immunity from criminal prosecution. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the bank with conspiracy to launder oil proceeds and evade economic sanctions against Iran.

The Second Circuit ruling cited Keitner’s 2021 Virginia Journal of International Law article “Prosecuting Foreign States,” which states that “Although the (Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act) defines ‘foreign state’ expansively for purposes of that statute, history and practice support differentiating between state-owned corporations and foreign states for immunity purposes under a common law approach.”

The U.S. Supreme Court also cited Keitner’s article in an opinion delivered by Justice Brett Kavanagh in 2023, when the high court remanded the Halkbank case back to the Second Circuit.

Professor Keitner is a leading authority on international law and civil litigation, and served as the 27th Counselor on International Law in the U.S. Department of State.