Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo

Sommario

1. Introduzione. – 2. Origine storica e teorica dell’act of State doctrine. – 3. Dalla rivoluzione venezuelana al caso Sabbatino. – 4. L’emendamento Hickenlooper. – 5. Le recenti pronunce della Corte Suprema. – 6. Cenni storico-legislativi sulla Helms-Burton. – 7. Helms-Burton e Hickenlooper Amendment. – 8. Helms- Burton: una possibile violazione del principio di separazione dei poteri. – 9. Conclusioni.

Abstract

On March 12, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996. The Act caused significant international criticism due most of all, to Title III which provides a civil cause of action for U.S. nationals against those who “traffic” in property confiscated by the Cuban regime. American citizens can thus recover damages in US courts from the Cuban government. In so doing, the Act abrogates a judicially-created doctrine called “act of state doctrine” under which US courts are precluded “from inquiring into the validity of the public acts of a recognized foreign sovereign power committed within its own territory.” The issue then is to verify if the US Congress can void a doctrine created and enforced by the U.S. Supreme Court without violating the Separation of Powers Principle, foreseen in the American Constitution.