Evidence and Burden of Proof under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 1976: A Practical Guide for Business Lawyers and Government

EVIDENCE AND BURDEN OF PROOF UNDER THE FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES ACT, 1976 is practical guide for assessing the quality of the evidence and the burden of proof in sovereign immunity trials under the FSIA 1976. The study concludes in demonstrating two distinct rules of the burden of proof, for each kind of immunity; the rules are widely uniform, and were corroborated by most US District Courts, Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Pierre F. Walter shows in this study that solid knowledge of procedural rules and the law of evidence in sovereign immunity litigation is often the basis of winning a case. While this is generally so, it is of even more importance in the highly complex trials that involve foreign sovereign immunity. The law firm stands out that can anticipate the judge's assessment of the burden of proof situation in every phase of the trial, thereby reducing cost for the client and substantially shifting probability up for winning the case. DR. PIERRE F. WALTER, ESQ. is an international lawyer holding degrees in German and European law, and a 'Docteur en droit' in international law from the law faculty of the University of Geneva (1987). Before expanding his career into corporate training and business consultancy, he has worked as a research assistant with Freshfields, Bruckhaus, Deringer in Cologne, Germany, with Lalive Lawyers in Geneva and with Professor Louis B. Sohn, UGA Law School, Department of International Law.