Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp. et al.

Decided January 23, 1989. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1372 · 488 U.S. 428 (1989) · Cited 993 times

Holding

The FSIA provides the sole basis for obtaining jurisdiction over a foreign state in United States courts, and the District Court correctly dismissed the action because the FSIA did not authorize jurisdiction over petitioner under the facts of this case.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Verlinden B. v. v. Central Bank of Nigeria · 461 U.S. 480 (1983)
• Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie Des Bauxites De Guinee · 456 U.S. 694 (1982)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Edye v. Robertson · 112 U.S. 580 (1884)
• United States v. California · 332 U.S. 19 (1947)
• Foley Bros., Inc. v. Filardo · 336 U.S. 281 (1949)
• Weinberger v. Rossi · 456 U.S. 25 (1982)
• The Santissima Trinidad. · 20 U.S. 283 (1822)
• Youakim v. Miller · 425 U.S. 231 (1976)
• Red Rock v. Henry · 106 U.S. 596 (1883)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States · 598 U.S. 264 (2023)
• Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. · 569 U.S. 108 (2013)
• OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs · 577 U.S. 27 (2015)
• Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations v. City of New York · 551 U.S. 193 (2007)
• Hungary v. Simon · 604 U.S. 115 (2025)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• Saudi Arabia v. Nelson · 507 U.S. 349 (1993)
• Republic of Argentina v. Weltover, Inc. · 504 U.S. 607 (1992)
• Samantar v. Yousuf · 560 U.S. 305 (2010)
• Republic of Austria v. Altmann · 541 U.S. 677 (2004)
• Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc. · 509 U.S. 155 (1993)
• Smith v. United States · 507 U.S. 197 (1993)
• Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC · 584 U.S. 241 (2018)
• Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp · 592 U.S. 169 (2021)
• CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd. v. Antrix Corp. · 605 U.S. 223 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).