Summary

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This case turns on one question: with whom did Plaintiff Global Voice Group SA ("GVG") agree to arbitrate disputes arising out of the "Partnership Agreement" that GVG entered into to provide telecommunications services for the benefit of Defendant Republic of Guinea and the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Guinea (the "PTRA")? According to GVG, it entered into such an agreement with both the PTRA and Guinea itself. So, when the PTRA and Guinea breached their duties under the Partnership Agreement and GVG won an arbitration award and related judgment against them, GVG reasons, GVG was entitled to enforce that award against Guinea in the United States in its quest to recover its contract damages and related costs.

Guinea disagrees. In Guinea's telling, it was not a party to the Partnership Agreement--or, at a minimum, was not a party to the arbitration agreement included in that contract (the "Arbitration Agreement"). Rather, GVG and the PTRA were the Agreement's only two parties. And as a result, Guinea retorts, GVG may not enforce against Guinea the arbitral award and related judgment arising out of the Partnership Agreement.

Guinea challenges GVG's suit on multiple fronts, but the Court finds Guinea's subject matter jurisdiction challenge dispositive. As an initial matter, the Court agrees with Guinea that it should set aside the Clerk's entry of default against Guinea, which was entered because of Guinea's three-week delay in responding to GVG's complaint. Once doing so, and in light of the record before it, the Court agrees with Guinea that the sovereign was not a party to the arbitration agreement invoked by GVG to hale Guinea into a U.S. court. Without a basis for an exception to Guinea's general immunity from suit, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear this dispute. And given that threshold determination, the Court need not and may not go further.

Accordingly, the Court will GRANT Guinea's motion to set aside default and motion to dismiss, ECF 16. 1 As part of its review, the Court will also GRANT GVG's motion for leave to file a surreply in opposition to that motion, ECF 20, and consider GVG's additional arguments.

Beyond that, the Court will DENY as MOOT GVG's motion for default judgment or summary judgment, ECF 25, and will DENY Guinea's motion for sanctions, ECF 26.