October 04-2013
A Canadian judge has frozen 15 Iranian government bank accounts and two Iranian-owned properties so that “victims of terrorism” can sue to take over the properties and funds.
The Canadian Foreign Affairs Department has published the list to make it easier for victims of terrorism. This is something the US federal government has not done so far.
The Foreign Affairs Department said four of the bank accounts contained $2.9 million. It said it did not know the sums in the other 11 accounts. The list also included the Iranian cultural center in Ottawa and a parking space owned by the Iranian government at 570 Laurier Avenue West in Ottawa.
All of those properties are available to be seized by victims of terrorism recognized by Canada’s courts. The government listed five other properties—the embassy building, the ambassador’s home, a diplomatic staff apartment house and two embassy bank accounts—that it said are diplomatic property and immune from attachment.
A five-page decision by Justice David Brown of the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice ordered banks to lock down the bank accounts. The banks were given until last Friday to disclose information about the accounts to lawyers representing two victims who have filed suits. On September 30, the lawyers are scheduled to return to court to ask for a default judgment against Iran.
Foreign governments are by common international practice immune from suits in foreign courts. Such sovereign immunity was granted to foreign governments in the United States in one of the first acts of Congress in 1790. But there were exceptions then and the exceptions have grown over the years. For example, in the modern era, many governments own businesses, and those commonly do not enjoy sovereign immunity around the world any longer.
In 1995, the United States also stripped sovereign immunity for acts of terrorism and allowed the victims of state sponsored acts of terrorism to sue. A few years ago, Canada passed similar legislation stripping sovereign immunity for state acts of terrorism by countries it has identified as state sponsors of terrorism. The only countries so identified by Canada are Iran and Syria. The United States lists those two states plus Sudan and Cuba.
The Islamic Republic insists that international law bars any suits against it. But, inconsistently, it allows Iranian victims of Iraqi chemical weapons to sue the United States.
As of the publication of the list, no Canadian had filed a suit against Iran, but one who was badly injured in a Hamas bombing in Israel was preparing a suit. See the story at right for what happened to her case.
The Islamic Republic has not responded to the freezing of its assets.
