## Facts

- The Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic (RSFSR) alleged it was the successor to the prior Russian government and in control of Russia’s territory.
- RSFSR sued Jacques R. Cibrario and others in New York over wartime procurement transactions handled through a purchasing-agent arrangement.
- RSFSR alleged defendants made undisclosed secret profits, supplied nonconforming goods that were largely worthless, and failed to comply with contractual time limits.
- The trial court dismissed the complaint, concluding RSFSR was not a proper plaintiff because the United States had not recognized it as the government of Russia.
- The Appellate Division affirmed, and RSFSR appealed to the New York Court of Appeals.

## Issues

1. Whether an unrecognized foreign government may maintain a civil action as plaintiff in New York courts.

## Decision

- The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal.
- The court held that a foreign government not recognized by the United States cannot sue as a plaintiff in New York courts.
- The court treated recognition as a political determination for the federal political branches and declined to extend comity-based access to an unrecognized regime.

## Legal Principles

- A foreign sovereign’s affirmative capacity to sue in New York courts is not an inherent right; absent treaty, it is a privilege grounded in international comity.
- Comity rests on reciprocal relations and presupposes a level of friendship and mutual respect that state courts should not assume when the federal political branches have refused recognition.
- Recognition of a foreign government is a political question committed to the federal executive and legislative branches; state courts must avoid judicial action that conflicts with federal foreign-relations policy.
- The inability of an unrecognized government to sue as plaintiff is distinct from sovereign immunity principles limiting suits against a foreign sovereign without its consent.

## Conclusion

Because the United States had not recognized RSFSR, the New York Court of Appeals held it lacked capacity to sue in New York, and the dismissal of its procurement-related claims against private defendants was affirmed.


Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic v. Cibrario, 235 N.Y. 255 (N.Y. 1923)