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ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS' SURVIVORS LOSE COURT FIGHT ON INSURANCE
By Carol J. Williams
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-armenian-insurance-20120224,0,5231502.story
Feb 24 2012
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says the survivors can't sue German
insurers because only the U.S. government has that ability. The ruling
likely ends the effort launched by Southern Californians.
Survivors of Armenian genocide victims can't sue German insurance
companies for failing to pay claims because only the federal government
can bring foreign entities to court, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled Thursday.
The 11-judge panel dismissed the case brought nearly a decade ago
by Southern California Armenians, probably putting an end to their
efforts to compel the German companies to pay survivors' benefits on
policies sold to victims between 1875 and 1923.
A 2000 revision to California's Civil Code allowed California courts
to consider the Armenians' insurance claims beyond the deadline
for petitioning for payouts by subsidiaries of the German insurance
company now known as Munich Re.
"The Constitution gives the federal government the exclusive authority
to administer foreign affairs," the appeals court said in a unanimous
ruling. "Under the foreign affairs doctrine, state laws that intrude
on this exclusively federal power are preempted."
The lawsuit against Munich Re was brought by Vazken Movsesian, an
Armenian priest in Glendale, on behalf of Armenians who sought damages
from the insurer for breach of contract. A federal district judge
declined to dismiss the case five years ago, a decision overturned
by a divided three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit in 2009, prompting
the full 11-judge review.
Thursday's ruling said that even in matters in which the federal
government hasn't formulated a policy, the state courts lack the
authority to address questions that can affect foreign relations. That
appeared to be a reference to Washington's delicate balancing act on
Turkey, a republic that succeeded the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies
that, in the empire's final years, any genocide occurred.
The genocide dispute continues to flare almost a century after the
killings. Two years ago when the House Foreign Affairs Committee
narrowly passed a resolution to recognize the genocide, Turkey
recalled its ambassador from Washington in protest. The resolution
has languished in the Senate, as U.S. politicians seek to keep NATO
ally Turkey committed to sanctions against Iran.
A lawyer for the Armenian plaintiffs conceded that the 9th Circuit
ruling probably spelled the end of the pursuit of compensation for
the genocide victims' descendants.
"The court says this is a field preemption, which means anything
that deals with this group of people is reserved for the federal
government," said Lee Boyd, who argued the case for the Armenians
before the 9th Circuit in December.
Attorneys for the denied claimants will look for some avenue of
appeal "but it doesn't look very promising," Boyd said, noting the
unusual unanimity of the court and the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal
to review similarly unsuccessful efforts to subject foreign entities
to state law.
From: Baghdasarian
By Carol J. Williams
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-armenian-insurance-20120224,0,5231502.story
Feb 24 2012
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says the survivors can't sue German
insurers because only the U.S. government has that ability. The ruling
likely ends the effort launched by Southern Californians.
Survivors of Armenian genocide victims can't sue German insurance
companies for failing to pay claims because only the federal government
can bring foreign entities to court, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled Thursday.
The 11-judge panel dismissed the case brought nearly a decade ago
by Southern California Armenians, probably putting an end to their
efforts to compel the German companies to pay survivors' benefits on
policies sold to victims between 1875 and 1923.
A 2000 revision to California's Civil Code allowed California courts
to consider the Armenians' insurance claims beyond the deadline
for petitioning for payouts by subsidiaries of the German insurance
company now known as Munich Re.
"The Constitution gives the federal government the exclusive authority
to administer foreign affairs," the appeals court said in a unanimous
ruling. "Under the foreign affairs doctrine, state laws that intrude
on this exclusively federal power are preempted."
The lawsuit against Munich Re was brought by Vazken Movsesian, an
Armenian priest in Glendale, on behalf of Armenians who sought damages
from the insurer for breach of contract. A federal district judge
declined to dismiss the case five years ago, a decision overturned
by a divided three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit in 2009, prompting
the full 11-judge review.
Thursday's ruling said that even in matters in which the federal
government hasn't formulated a policy, the state courts lack the
authority to address questions that can affect foreign relations. That
appeared to be a reference to Washington's delicate balancing act on
Turkey, a republic that succeeded the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies
that, in the empire's final years, any genocide occurred.
The genocide dispute continues to flare almost a century after the
killings. Two years ago when the House Foreign Affairs Committee
narrowly passed a resolution to recognize the genocide, Turkey
recalled its ambassador from Washington in protest. The resolution
has languished in the Senate, as U.S. politicians seek to keep NATO
ally Turkey committed to sanctions against Iran.
A lawyer for the Armenian plaintiffs conceded that the 9th Circuit
ruling probably spelled the end of the pursuit of compensation for
the genocide victims' descendants.
"The court says this is a field preemption, which means anything
that deals with this group of people is reserved for the federal
government," said Lee Boyd, who argued the case for the Armenians
before the 9th Circuit in December.
Attorneys for the denied claimants will look for some avenue of
appeal "but it doesn't look very promising," Boyd said, noting the
unusual unanimity of the court and the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal
to review similarly unsuccessful efforts to subject foreign entities
to state law.
From: Baghdasarian