28 U.S.C. § 1602
Section 1602 · Findings and declaration of purpose
This is § 4 of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 640 court decisions — leading case Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (2005)
Most recently applied in Schansman v. Sberbank (February 2025)
Applied most in the District Circuit Circuit (137 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 28 U.S.C. § 1605 · 28 U.S.C. § 1603 · 28 U.S.C. § 1330
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Congress finds that the determination by United States courts of the claims of foreign states to immunity from the jurisdiction of such courts would serve the interests of justice and would protect the rights of both foreign states and litigants in United States courts. Under international law, states are not immune from the jurisdiction of foreign courts insofar as their commercial activities are concerned, and their commercial property may be levied upon for the satisfaction of judgments rendered against them in connection with their commercial activities. Claims of foreign states to immunity should henceforth be decided by courts of the United States and of the States in conformity with the principles set forth in this chapter.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Effective Date
Section 8 of Pub. L. 94–583 provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter and section 1330 of this title, amending sections 1332, 1391, and 1441 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 1 of this title] shall take effect ninety days after the date of its enactment [Oct. 21, 1976].”
Short Title
For short title of Pub. L. 94–583 as the “Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976”, see section 1 of Pub. L. 94–583, set out as a Short Title of 1976 Amendments note under section 1 of this title.
Separability
Section 7 of Pub. L. 94–583 provided that: “If any provision of this Act [enacting this chapter and section 1330 of this title, amending sections 1332, 1391, and 1441 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 1 of this title] or the application thereof to any foreign state is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.”