Republic of Sudan v. Harrison

Decided March 26, 2019. Samuel A. Alito Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 16-1094 · 587 U.S. 1 (2019) · Cited 116 times

Holding

When civil process is served on a foreign state under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, 28 U. S. C. §1608(a)(3) requires a mailing to be sent directly to the foreign minister’s office in the foreign state.

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 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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.

• United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc. · 489 U.S. 235 (1989)
• Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury · 489 U.S. 803 (1989)
• MacKey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Service, Inc. · 486 U.S. 825 (1988)
• Reid v. Covert · 354 U.S. 1 (1957)
• United States v. Hohri · 482 U.S. 64 (1987)
• Abbott v. Abbott · 560 U.S. 1 (2010)
• Breard v. Greene · 523 U.S. 371 (1998)
• Sumitomo Shoji America, Inc. v. Avagliano · 457 U.S. 176 (1982)
• Rosenthal v. Walker · 111 U.S. 185 (1884)
• Florida Department of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc. · 554 U.S. 33 (2008)
• Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. v. Novo Nordisk A/s · 566 U.S. 399 (2012)
• Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. · 339 U.S. 306 (1950)
• Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne Int'l Drilling Co. · 581 U.S. 170 (2017)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Davis · 588 U.S. 445 (2019)
• CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd. v. Antrix Corp. · 605 U.S. 223 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2019). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).