The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit by Holocaust survivors seeking compensation from Hungary for property confiscated during World War II.
The justices, ruling on an appeal by Hungary’s government, overturned an appeals court ruling that had allowed the lawsuit to proceed despite a federal law that typically protects sovereign nations from being sued in U.S. courts, the Associated Press reported.
The justices unanimously said in the ruling that the claimants had not demonstrated that their case involved the United States, thus making it impossible to bypass the federal law.
In December, the high court considered arguments in Hungary’s bid to end the lawsuit, which survivors and their heirs originally filed in 2010.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2016 ruled that the survivors met an exception under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act for “property taken in violation of international law.” To qualify, they needed to demonstrate a commercial link between the property and the United States.
The survivors contended that Hungary had long ago sold off the property, combined the proceeds with its general funds, and later used that money to issue bonds and purchase military equipment in the U.S. during the 2000s.
“A commingling theory, without more” fails to meet the law’s requirements, Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated in the ruling, AP reported. The court sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, leaving the lawsuit’s future uncertain.
In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Germany in a multimillion-dollar dispute over the Guelph Treasure, a collection of religious artworks. That decision made it more difficult to pursue lawsuits in U.S. courts over property taken from Jews during the Nazi era.
At the time, the court also reviewed Hungary’s case and sent it back to the appeals court in Washington for reconsideration based on the Germany ruling.
The appeals court refused to dismiss all claims, opening their path to the Supreme Court.
