This procedure, known as service  of process, gives parties formal notice of the initiation of court  proceedings. Based on our analysis of State and U.S. court data, from 2007 through  2017, State received 289 service requests to 33 countries. According to plaintiffs’ attorneys, victims of state-sponsored terrorism who  have obtained judgments against a foreign state generally seek  compensation in two ways: (1) by attaching and directly seizing assets of  that state pursuant to the FSIA and other applicable provisions of law  and (2) from a temporary special fund called the U.S. Victims of State  Sponsored Terrorism Fund (Fund). State Completes Service in Several Stages That Take 5 Months to Complete On Average

		State’s Process for Completing Service Has Four Stages

State completes service through four stages involving the courts, the  Department of State, U.S. embassies, and foreign ministries through a  process that took about 5 months to complete on average for the period  2007 through 2017. Preparing and submitting a request for service to State. Seven requests took longer than 1 year. Slow Service Could Adversely Affect Victims’ Ability to Obtain Compensation

Although neither the FSIA, State’s implementing regulations, nor federal  rules of civil procedure establish a time limit for State to complete service,  the length of time State takes to complete service can affect plaintiffs’  compensation. Without this, OCS/L lacked any data  about when it first received and began working on a request. For example, 82 percent of the cases did not contain the date  when OCS/L received the request from the court. Federal internal control standards state  that management should implement control activities through policies  such as through day-to-day procedures or guidance. OCS/L’s lack of monitoring also contributed to a loss of revenue. Our  analysis of available data showed that the document review and  clearance stage in Washington, D.C. took longer than the other stages. However, in June 2018, OCS/L issued a new manual  that includes timeframes for certain steps of completing service within  OCS/L. We found that the process of serving legal  documents to foreign countries takes an average of 5 months, but that  some cases take considerably longer. By having better record- keeping and more accurate and complete data, State will be able to  monitor its progress in completing service requests and develop  performance standards to measure timeliness. Additionally, periodically  analyzing the data could help identify ways to improve timeliness. (Recommendation 1)
The Secretary of State should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of  State for Consular Affairs requires OCS/L to update its record-keeping  guidance for service requests to include a standard list of documents to  maintain in service request case files. In its comments, State concurred with all five of our  recommendations and identified actions it planned to take to address  them. Appendix I: Objective, Scope and Methodology

In this report, we examine (1) how the Department of State (State)  completes service under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)  and how long it takes to perform this function and (2) whether State has  implemented key controls in record-keeping, monitoring, analysis and  performance management for completing service requests. Finally, we assessed State’s implementation of key controls against  applicable laws, including the FSIA and Government Performance and  Results Act of 1993, as well as State guidance and federal internal control  standards.
Why GAO Did This Study

While foreign states generally cannot be sued in a U.S. court, under FSIA, parties can sue governments for certain crimes such as injury or death from an act of terrorism, if certain factors are present. State is required by statute to serve notice of such suits or default judgments when other means for effecting service are not available, and charges plaintiffs a fee of $2,275 to complete this task. Plaintiffs in such cases may also qualify for compensation from a fund that Congress established called the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
In this report, GAO examines (1) how State completes this service and the length of time it takes to complete requests, and (2) whether State has implemented key controls for executing service requests promptly. GAO reviewed State regulations, guidance, case files, and data from 2007 through 2017; and interviewed State officials in Washington, D.C., the Czech Republic, Germany, and Switzerland, which handle the vast majority of cases. GAO assessed State's controls against federal internal control standards.

What GAO Found

The Department of State (State) notifies sovereign defendants of court proceedings under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) in a four stage process that has taken on average about 5 months to complete. State headquarters has overall responsibility for delivering legal documents but U.S. embassies and foreign governments play key roles as well. From 2007 through 2017, State completed 229 requests for delivery of legal documents in an average of about 5 months, but about 28 percent of the requests took longer than 6 months and 7 requests took more than a year. Slow delivery could adversely affect a plaintiff's ability to obtain compensation from a special victims' fund that Congress set up in 2015.
State's guidance and federal internal control standards require controls such as accurate and complete record-keeping, continuous monitoring, and analysis of data; however, GAO found that State lacks several key controls to manage its delivery of legal documents. First, State's records are incomplete. For example, for 82 percent of the cases, State had no information about when it received court requests. Second, State did not monitor the progress of cases, resulting in slow service. This slow service led State to waive fees of about $57,000 because checks had expired. Third, State did not analyze case data to identify factors contributing to slow service, or establish timeframes for completing service. As a result, managers lack a sound basis for making decisions on how to improve timeliness. In June 2018, State took some actions based on GAO's review to improve its performance, including preparing step-by-step guidance and developing a new record-keeping system, but further actions could fill the gaps that have impaired program performance.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making five recommendations to State, including that it update its record-keeping guidance to ensure its records are accurate and complete, monitor the progress of requests, periodically analyze data to identify causes of slow service and take corrective actions, and establish timeframes for completing service. State concurred with all five of GAO's recommendations and identified actions it plans to take to address them.