286
87 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT, 3d SERIES
Han KIM, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S
REPUBLIC OF KOREA,
et al., Defendants.
Civil Action No. 09–648 (RWR)
United States District Court,
District of Columbia.
Signed April 9, 2015
Background: Family of religious missionary filed suit, under terrorism exception to
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA),
against Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea after missionary was allegedly abducted, imprisoned, tortured, and killed for
his humanitarian efforts. The United
States District Court for the District of
Columbia, Richard W. Roberts, J., 950
F.Supp.2d 29, denied entry of default judgment. Family appealed. The United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Tatel, Circuit Judge, 774 F.3d
1044, reversed and remanded upon determining that evidence was sufficient to satisfy jurisdictional requirements for FISA’s
terrorism exception.
Holdings: On remand, the District Court,
Roberts, Chief Judge, held that:
(1) award of compensatory damages was
warranted, and
(2) award of punitive damages was warranted.
Judgment for plaintiff.
1. International Law O10.31
Actions under the Foreign Sovereign
Immunities Act (FISA) usually proceed in
three parts: (1) a finding as to the district
court’s jurisdiction, (2) a finding as to the
liability of the defendant foreign sovereign,
and (3) an assessment of damages against
the defendant foreign sovereign.
U.S.C.A. §§ 1605A(a)(1), 1605A(c).
28
2. International Law O10.33
Liability under Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s (FISA) damages provision
exists whenever the jurisdictional requirements of FISA’s terrorism exception are
met.
28
U.S.C.A.
§§ 1605A(a)(1),
1605A(c).
3. International Law O10.33
A plaintiff establishing jurisdiction under the terrorism exception to the Foreign
Sovereign Immunities Act (FISA) may establish the necessary proof for damages
through affidavits or live testimony. 28
U.S.C.A. §§ 1605A(a)(1), 1605A(c).
4. Damages O20, 184
In order to be awarded compensatory
damages, under the terrorism exception to
the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
(FSIA), a plaintiff must prove that the
projected consequences of the defendant’s
actions are reasonably certain, in other
words, more likely than not, to occur, or
that actual consequences have occurred,
and must prove the amount of damages by
a reasonable estimate consistent with the
application of the American rule on damages. 28 U.S.C.A. § 1605A(c).
5. Damages O221(5.1)
International Law O10.33
Under the terrorism exception to the
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA),
damages are assessed through findings as
to each plaintiff, including the injuries he
suffered and his citizenship. 28 U.S.C.A.
§ 1605A(c).
6. Death O88, 89
‘‘Solatium,’’ a form of compensatory
damages, seeks to compensate persons for
mental anguish, bereavement, and grief
that those with a close personal relationship to a decedent experience as well as