On August 2, 2021, the Southern District of New York granted our motion to dismiss a case brought against the Republic of Italy. The case involved a marble bust (purportedly discovered in the Roman Forum) that was for sale by the Safani Gallery. We discussed the litigation and our motion to dismiss in a prior blog post. The highly anticipated opinion concerned the applicability of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to the Republic of Italy; namely, whether Italy acted in such a manner that a U.S. court could obtain subject matter jurisdiction over it. The FSIA is the only means for US courts to obtain jurisdiction over foreign states, through a series of limited statutory exceptions. The court ruled that plaintiff Safani Gallery failed to establish grounds satisfying any of the exceptions named in its Amended Complaint. (The gallery initially alleged that Italy engaged in commercial activity, but then amended its complaint to instead allege waiver, expropriation, and tortious activity). In particular, the court noted that Italy did not engage in a taking in violation of international law, nor did it exert agency over the N.Y. law enforcement officials who seized the object in Manhattan. Judge Vernon Broderick noted that Italy’s communication with the District Attorney’s office was analogous to someone who reports a crime, which was insufficient to establish a fiduciary relationship. The seizure of the object was also carried out for a public purpose and was therefore lawful.

This case is the third in a line of litigations in which art market participants have sued foreign governments for communicating about problematic or suspicious antiquities. This is also the third case in that line of cases to be dismissed. The first of those litigations, Barnet et al. v. Ministry of Culture of the Hellenic Republic, involved an antiquity up for auction at Sotheby’s. Amineddoleh & Associates is proud to have represented Greece in the landmark case and to have secured a win for the nation. There, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted our motion to dismiss on behalf of Greece in June 2020. We are pleased that US courts have upheld foreign states’ defense from actions suing them for communicating with law enforcement or art market participants. Our firm is proud to have gained recognition as a leader in FSIA litigations and antiquities matters.