American Bankruptcy Institute | Government: Sovereign Immunity

The following abstract summarizes the text of submissions made to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. The abstract is organized by NBRC working group and topic.

The Final Report of the NBRC can be viewed on-line. To obtain a copy of any document shown below, contact the Center for Legislative Archives, Room 205, National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. 20408. The telephone number is 202/501-5350. Mr. R. Michael McReynolds, Deputy Director, will be able to assist with specific inquiries. (The NBRC documents will be housed at this location until June, 1999. Thereafter, the records will be transferred to the Center's archives in College Park, MD.)

**Government: Sovereign Immunity**
ID	Name	Group	Other	Code Sec	Cross Ref	Problem Referenced	Proposed Solutions
NBRC- 0303	Commercial Law League of America	Commercial Law League of America (CLLA)				The Commerical Law League of America believes that the following sovereign immunity issue should be considered by the NBRC: 1) What statutory changes, if any, are required to ensure that § 106 provisions are consistent with the recent Supreme Court decision in the Seminole Indian case (CLLA believes that this issue should receive "high priority")	No additional details are provided.
NBRC- 0416	Arthur J. Spector	U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan		1111(a)	106(b)	Author believes proposal that §1111(a)s "deemed filed" rule be extended for the benefit of governmental creditors in cases in all chapters has merit, but across the board for all creditors, not just governments. Author is concerned, however, that if the claim is "deemed filed" merely because it is listed in the schedules, the claimant also be "deemed" to have submitted to the bankruptcy court's jurisdiction for purposes of jury trial waiver and waiver of sovereign immunity, see §106(b). If not, then author would pause and seriously reconsider the proposal. "One of the most important aspects of requiring a creditor to file a proof of claim is to manifest the creditor's desire to participate in the equitable process of distributing the res. If a reasonable substitute for this "opting in" is not found, it might be better to not make the change proposed."	The "deemed filed" rule should be applied to all creditors, provided they are also deemed to have submitted to the bankruptcy court's jurisdiction for purposes of jury trial waiver and waiver of sovereign immunity.