Thomas, J., dissenting
experienced armed conflict or political instability.
Second, the Court notes that, under its rule, the effective date of service under §1608(c) will be closer in time to when the service packet reaches a foreign official who knows how to respond to the summons. Ante, at 11–12. That contention assumes embassy employees are less capable of responding to a summons than foreign-ministry employees. But even granting that premise, this argument falls short. An embassy is capable of quickly transmitting a summons to the foreign minister, whether electronically, by diplomatic bag, or by some other means. Any time lost in transmission is not significant enough to warrant the Court’s departure from the text of the statute.
Third, the Court argues that allowing service at the embassy would make it easier to serve a foreign state than it is to serve a person in that foreign state under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4. Ante, at 13–14. I am not persuaded. Under the FSIA, service by mail is not effective until “the date of receipt indicated in the… signed and returned postal receipt.” §1608(c)(2). That is no more generous than practice under Rule 4, especially since the foreign minister need not accept service. To the extent that embassies accept service of process directed to the foreign minister, it is that decision that eases the burden on the plaintiff, not §1608(a)(3).
B
Sudan also argues that allowing service by mail at an embassy would violate Article 22(1) of the VCDR. The Court does not adopt Sudan’s argument, stating only that its decision has “the virtue of avoiding potential tension” with the VCDR. Ante, at 13. But there is no tension between my reading of the FSIA and the VCDR.[1]
- ↑ Even if there were, the FSIA postdates the VCDR and thus “‘renders the treaty null’” “‘to the extent of conflict.’” Breard v. Greene, 523 U. S. 371, 376 (1998) (per curiam) (quoting Reid v. Covert, 354 U. S. 1,
