4 - The Nature of Institutional Immunities

Summary

This chapter focuses on how the application of an IO’s jurisdictional immunities prevent victims from accessing justice at the national level. The discussion first focuses on the basis of an IO’s domestic legal personality which allows suits to be brought against them at all. The chapter then identifies how IO immunities are applied today. Whereas IO immunities were intended to be functional, they have become by and large de facto absolute. This means that a claimant’s case is procedurally defeated and the merits do not get a chance to be ventilated. There are some indications that the tide might be shifting in favour of the claimant. Still, the way in which claims against IOs are addressed at the national level is unsustainable and requires a fundamental reframing.