“[T]he [Foreign Sovereign] Immunities Act codified the so-called ‘restrictive’ principle of sovereign immunity, as recognized in international law. Under this doctrine, the immunity of a foreign state in the courts of the United States is ‘restricted’ to claims involving the foreign state’s public acts and does not extend to suits based on its commercial or private conduct.” 14A Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 3662, at 161–62 (3d ed. 1998).
restrictive principle of sovereign immunity
restrictive principle of sovereign immunity. The doctrine by which a foreign nation’s immunity does not apply to claims arising from the nation’s private or commercial acts, but protects the nation only from claims arising from its public functions. See COMMERCIAL-ACTIVITY EXCEPTION; JURE GESTIONIS; JURE IMPERII . [Cases: International Law 10.33. C.J.S. International Law §§ 46–48.]
