U.S. judge sets date for restitution hearing
A U.S. federal judge has set a court date for a preliminary hearing in the case of 11 Jews seeking compensation for property seized during or after World War II by the Nazis or the Polish government.
Almost a year and a half after the property restitution case was first filed in New York, a federal judge has set Dec. 7 as the date for both sides to argue their cases in what has become the key property restitution test case for post-communist Poland.
Plaintiffs in the case welcomed the news that a date for the hearing has been set. "Yes, that's good news," said Peter Koppenheim, one of the plaintiffs in the class action suit. Koppenheim is looking to receive compensation for property confiscated by the Nazis in Breslau, today's Wroclaw. "Maybe the Polish government will start to see how serious its position is," he said.
The case hits a raw nerve in Poland because unlike many other Central European countries, in the years since the fall of communism it has failed to pass a law on property restitution. The lack of progress on the issue has stalled development, worried properties buyers and frustrated owners who lost holdings either to the Nazis or to nationalization by communists.
The filing of the class action suit on June 18, 1999, has not only been an embarrassment for the government, it also placed the property restitution issue squarely on the government's international agenda.
While the hearing in December will be the first day in court for plaintiffs, the court date does not mark the beginning of the trial itself. Based on arguments presented by attorneys representing the former property owners and the Polish government, the federal judge will then determine whether or not to grant jurisdiction to a U.S. court.
According to Witold Danilowicz, executive partner at law firm White and Case, which is representing the Polish government, the judge probably won't make a decision on jurisdiction until after the first of the year. "(The judge will probably) make up his mind at the end of January," Danilowicz said.
The crux of the Polish government's case is that U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction to hear a claim against Poland. Attorneys for Poland argue that under the international law accepted by the United States, sovereign countries cannot be sued in the courts of another country. In a similar property restitution case against Poland last year, a Chicago judge ruled that the Polish government is protected by sovereign immunity and cannot be sued in a foreign court.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs maintain that the outcome of the Chicago case will have little bearing on the ruling in New York. "Our strategy and our legal argument is dramatically different from what was presented in the case in Chicago," Urbach said. "These types of Holocaust restitution cases, where you are dealing with activities that took place decades ago, require different interpretation rather than traditional interpretation. Not all attorneys are fully aware of how to develop those arguments."
Urbach declined to elaborate further on his team's case and its legal arguments.
The announcement of the court date comes at a time when chances of pushing property restitution legislation through Parliament appear to be dwindling. Not only has public support for property restitution law diminished, according to public opinion polls released earlier this year, but political support in Parliament appears to be declining as well.
The government's bid to introduce legislation since last year hit a snag this autumn when opposition parties called for a national referendum to be held on the controversial property restitution issue. While it is unclear whether the initiative submitted jointly by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Polish Peasants' Party (PSL) and Workers' Union (UP) will gain majority backing in the Sejm, the move itself could be enough to derail attempts to complete work on the government-sponsored draft bill before the end of the year.
"First the (opposition party) proposal will have to be taken into consideration, after that we can start with the second reading of the (draft restitution) law," said Jan Wyrowinski, a Freedom Union (UW) deputy from Torun.
With the specter of earlier elections due to the ongoing leadership crisis in the ruling Solidarity Election Action (AWS) party, some say this government may also fail to pass restitution legislation.
"It's a danger now," Wyrowinski said.
