Wednesday 15 December 2010

US Appeals Court Decision on Armenian Genocide

Here is an interesting decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (California, I think) concerning a class action lawsuit filed by Armenian survivors or their descendants against German insurance companies. The cases were subject to statutory limitation, of course, but the California legislature waived the limitation until the end of 2010. Then, the insurance companies challenged the legislation as being unconstitutional, because it interfered with US foreign policy which was, according to the judge at first instance, one of denying that genocide took place in 1915. The plaintiffs appealed successfully. The decision notes that some 40 state legislatures in the US have adopted declarations acknowledging the Armenian genocide. It even refers to statements by the President before he was elected. There is also a comment about the case on Jurist.
Thanks to Meg deGuzman. 

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