Summary

Two Mauritian mining companies bring this action against the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), and Zimbabwe's Chief Mining Commissioner, asking us to recognize and enforce a judgment of the High Court of Zambia that confirmed an arbitral award issued in Zambia. Plaintiffs argue we have subject matter jurisdiction because Defendants waived their immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), which sets out narrow exceptions to a sovereign's immunity from suit in U.S. courts.

Plaintiffs contend that the FSIA's arbitration exception, which waives immunity from an action to "confirm an award," also waives immunity from an action to recognize a foreign court judgment that confirmed an award. Plaintiffs also rely on the FSIA's implied waiver exception for jurisdiction. They argue that a foreign sovereign waives its immunity from an action to recognize a foreign court judgment that confirmed an arbitral award when the sovereign signs a treaty governing the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards and agrees to arbitrate in a jurisdiction that has done the same.

Applying either exception here would require us to conflate two distinct concepts - arbitral awards and foreign court judgments. We cannot fit a judgment recognition action into a provision that mentions only award confirmation. Nor can we conclude that Defendants intended to waive their immunity by signing a treaty that governs only the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, not the court judgments confirming such awards. Because neither exception applies, we lack subject matter jurisdiction over this action.