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Marseille-Kliniken v Equatorial Guinea: US DC Circuit clarifies BG Group; courts decide substantive arbitrability in sovereign contracts absent clear delegation under FSIA; drafting pointers for arbitration clauses

Published on: 31 October 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert
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Marseille-Kliniken AG v Republic of Equatorial Guinea — US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No 23-7169

What was the background?

Swiss healthcare group Marseille-Kliniken AG entered a 2009 agreement with Equatorial Guinea to upgrade and run a clinic. The dispute clause, written in Spanish and German, pointed both to Equatorial Guinean courts and to arbitration before the Zurich Chamber of Commerce. After relations soured, Equatorial Guinea excluded Marseille-Kliniken from the site. The company launched Swiss arbitrations and recovered damages in two cases. In the latter, the state contested jurisdiction, contending the clause mandated exhaustion of domestic remedies before any arbitration. The tribunal rejected that reading and granted Marseille-Kliniken US$9m. Seeking recognition, Marseille-Kliniken petitioned the US District Court for D.C. under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and the New York Convention. The court held it had jurisdiction via the FSIA arbitration exception and, relying on BG Group v Republic of Argentina (572 US 25 (2014)), treated the clause’s sequencing as a procedural issue for the arbitrators, to whose interpretation it deferred. Equatorial Guinea appealed...

What did the court decide?

The D.C. Circuit...

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