Win or lose, you may still be able to sue

WHEN the tribes of ancient Israel defeated the Midianites, the victors got the losers’ 675,000 sheep, 72,000 oxen, 61,000 asses and 32,000 female virgins (males and non-virgin women were slaughtered), as well as the gold and jewels. The biblical account suggests that, in that era at least, this was a standard post-conflict resolution of property questions.

These days, the accepted rules on what a conqueror can grab are different. A bid to enforce one of the biggest awards of compensation to a victim of wartime looting is now under consideration by Canada’s Supreme Court. The story started when lawyers representing Kuwait Airways filed a commercial claim in an English court in 1991 against Iraq and the state-owned Iraqi Airways for seizing ten aircraft and aircraft parts during the 1990-91 Gulf war. After much wrangling, it gained a $1.2 billion judgment which it is now trying to collect in at least nine jurisdictions. The Canadian court is being asked to rule on whether a Kuwaiti airline can impound some assets in Montreal—including six aircraft and two buildings—that belong to the Iraqi state. …