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Ninth Circuit Strikes Down ‘Armenian Genocide’ Claims Law as Interfering With Foreign Policy
Insurance Law Update
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
In Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung AG, __ F.3d __ , 2009 WL 2526676 (9th Cir. (Cal.) Aug. 20, 2009), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a California statute that extends the statute of limitations for claims arising out of life insurance policies issued to “Armenian Genocide” victims was preempted because it conflicted with the federal government’s clearly expressed foreign policy of refusing to provide official legislative recognition of the incident.
The statute, Section 354.4 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, extended the statute of limitations until 2010 for claims arising out of life insurance policies issued to “Armenian Genocide victim[s].” The defendants, German life insurance companies, argued that Section 354.4 interfered with the federal government’s power to conduct foreign affairs. Specifically, the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush each had taken specific action to defeat three House Resolutions recognizing the “Armenian Genocide.” Turkey, an American ally, has also denied that the loss of Armenian lives – estimated to be 1.5 million between 1915 and 1919 in what is now eastern Turkey – constituted genocide and instead alleges that the deaths resulted from civil unrest due to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
The plaintiffs argued that the phrase “Armenian Genocide” should not have such a “talismanic” effect. The court, however, found that the symbolic effect of the words was precisely the problem, given that the federal government had decided not to apply the politically charged label of “genocide” to those deaths during World War I. As such, Section 354.4 impermissibly impaired the President’s ability to speak with one voice for the nation in the realm of foreign affairs, and undermined his diplomatic authority.
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