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The rule's wider implication is that a state and any sovereign, unless it chooses to waive its immunity, is immune to the jurisdiction of foreign courts and the enforcement of court orders. So jealously guarded is the law, traditionally the assertion of any such jurisdiction is considered impossible
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The
Convention was open for signature by all States until 17 January 2007 and may enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the thirtieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. As of 30 May 2018, there are 28 signatories to the Convention and 23
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extends to current heads of state and government of states that are members of the court. Though cases might include acts that leaders take in their official capacities (such as ordering the country's military to commit genocide), they are prosecuted against individuals rather than the country's
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are overridden by state immunity. The case affirms case law from earlier decisions. The decision was criticized by some commentators for not embracing a nascent movement to waive immunity in cases of human rights violations. Others pointed out that the decision reflected the consensus of actual
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on 16 May 1972 and is currently in force in eight countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands (for the
European Netherlands), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Six of those (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland) also are parties to its
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There is now a trend in various states towards substantial exceptions to the rule of immunity; in particular, a state can be sued when the dispute arises from a commercial transaction entered into by a state or some other "non-sovereign activity" of a state. The United
Nations Convention on
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Opponents of this type of exception point out that civil actions brought by disgruntled individuals in one country against another state can have grave political and economic repercussions for both states; and civil proceedings can raise difficult issues of enforcement and
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Sovereign immunity is sometimes available to countries in international courts and international arbitration; principally not however if acting more as contracting bodies (e.g. making agreements with regard to extracting oil and selling it) nor in boundaries matters.
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claims; or in claims involving commercial activity, a tort inside the United States involving death, personal injury, or damage to or loss of property (such as a traffic collision), or expropriation of property in violation of international law. Section 221 of the
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The courts of a country will not impede a foreign sovereign, that is, they will not by their process make him against his will a party to legal proceedings whether the proceedings involve process against his person or seek to recover from him specific property or
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Jurisdictional
Immunities of States and their Property, which as of 2015 is not yet in force, would re-formulate and harmonise the rules and their exceptions. It does not cover criminal proceedings and it does not allow civil (e.g. financial) actions for
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of other states. The rules relate to legal proceedings in the courts of another state, not in a state's own courts. The rules developed at a time when it was thought to be an infringement of a state's
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interpreted customary international law to bar a ship owner from suing to regain a vessel seized by the government of France, which had docked for repairs in
Philadelphia.
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99:). Others point out that state immunity should be the exception that warrants proper justification, without which all states should be subject to liability.
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exception should be made in each country's domestic law, so that country's definition of abuse, standard of proof, and rules of evidence apply.
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and the prohibition against torture should take precedence over rules of state immunity (in technical terms, they constitute norms of
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ruled by a majority of 12 to 3 that all attempts by domestic courts, forums and tribunals attempting to supranationally apply
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removed the requirement that a state sponsor of terrorism be officially listed, so that victim families of the
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generally bars suits against foreign governments, except in cases where state immunity is waived; in certain
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The United
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added an exception for U.S. victims of terrorism, for any government designated by the State
Department as
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Some commentators argue states should not be immune to cases relating to serious
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to bring proceedings against it or its officials in a foreign country.
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against state agents where the abuse has occurred in another country.
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Immunité juridictionelles de l'Etat (Allemagne, Italie, Grèce)
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abuses. They argue that fundamental human rights such as the
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The European Convention on State Immunity was signed in
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National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008
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Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
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Akehurst's Modern Introduction to International Law
250:on 2 December 2004 but is yet to come into force.
362:Peter Malanczuk, Michael Barton Akehurst (1997),
254:instruments of ratification have been deposited.
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236:European Tribunal in matters of State Immunity
512:Text of European Convention on State Immunity
264:Immunity from prosecution (international law)
234:Additional Protocol, that establishes the
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215:Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act
445:. United Nations Office of Legal Affairs
443:Audiovisual Library of International Law
21:Not to be confused with the doctrine of
326:"Tort Liability for Belligerent Wrongs"
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296:"State Immunity: A Vanuatu Perspective"
63:, the highest court at the time in the
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225:European Convention on State Immunity
167:The 1812 U.S. Supreme Court decision
77:without the foreign power's consent.
133:Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening
81:Arguments for and against exceptions
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151:international custom and practice.
130:On 3 February 2012, in the case of
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324:Abraham, Haim (1 December 2019).
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121:customary international law
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191:state sponsor of terrorism
28:The doctrine and rules of
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221:could sue Saudi Arabia.
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203:extrajudicial killing
197:added exceptions for
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219:September 11 attacks
342:10.1093/ojls/gqz025
50:human rights abuses
496:Hazel Fox (2008),
389:2012-06-02 at the
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402:Public Law 110-18
207:aircraft sabotage
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474:17 February
414:"Full list"
115:In practice
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526:Categories
314:485 at 490
281:References
143:jus cogens
96:jus cogens
57:Lord Atkin
350:0143-6503
182:admiralty
176:The 1976
55:In 1938,
387:Archived
374:, p. 118
258:See also
72:damages.
449:30 July
423:30 July
199:torture
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209:, and
193:. The
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368:ISBN
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