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Jurisdictional Immunities of the State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Alexander Orakhelashvili
Alexander Orakhelashvili*
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
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Abstract

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Keywords

Sovereign immunitysources of international lawacts jure imperiiviolations of human rights and humanitarian lawjus cogens
Type
International Decisions
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 106 , Issue 3 , July 2012 , pp. 609 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2012

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References

1 Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Ger. v. It.; Greece Intervening) (Int’l Ct. Justice Feb. 3,2012), at http://www.icj-cij.org [hereinafter Judgment].

2 Treaty of Peace, Allies et al.-It., Art. 77(4), Feb. 10, 1947, 61 Stat. 1245, 49 & 50 UNTS.

3 Bundesentschädigungsgesetz (BEG), 1953 BGBL. I 1387, amended by Second Amending Law to the Federal Supplementary Law for the Compensation of Victims of National Socialist Persecution, 1955 BGBL. I 506, and Third Law to Amend the Federal Supplementary Law for the Compensation of Victims of National Socialist Persecution, 1956 BGBL. 1559.

4 Ferrini v. Fed. Rep. Germany, Cass., sez. plen., 11 marzo 2004, n.5044, 87 Rivista di diritto internazionale [RDI] 539 (2004), 128 ILR 658.

5 Criminal Proceedings Against Milde, Cass., sez. 1 pen., 13 gennaio 2009, n 1072, 92 RDI 618(2009), available at Int’l L. Domestic CTS. 1224 (IT 2009).

6 European Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, Art. 1, Apr. 29, 1957, ETS No. 23, 320 UNTS 243. Earlier, the Court had dismissed the Italian counterclaim that Germany had violated the duty to pay repa rations to the relevant victims, for lack of jurisdiction. Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Ger. v. It.), Counterclaim (Int’l Ct. Justice July 6, 2010).

7 North Sea Continental Shelf (FRG/Den.; FRG/Neth.), 1969 ICJ Rep. 3, 44, para. 77 (Feb. 20).

8 European Convention on State Immunity, May 16, 1972, ETS No. 74, 1495 UNTS 182.

9 United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, GA Res. 59/38, annex (Dec. 2, 2004).

10 See >MTDSG [Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General], at http://treaties.un.org.

11 See also Judgment, paras. 70-77. However, on that point, Judge Gaja reached the opposite conclusion, observing, pursuant to the International Law Commission’s position, that this is a “grey area” in which legislation and judicial practice vary. Dissenting Opinion of Judge ad hoc Gaja, paras. 9-10 (quoting Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Forty-third Session, [1991] 2 Y.B. Int’l L. Comm’n 23, UN Doc. A/CN.4/Ser.A/1991 /Add. 1 (Part 2), UN Sales No. E.93. V.9 (Part 2) (commentary to draft Art. 5 on jurisdictional immunities of states, para. 2)).

12 28 U.S.C. §§1605(a)(5)(A), 1605A (2011); Letelier v. Republic of Chile, 488 F.Supp. 665, 671-73 (D.D.C. 1980), 63 ILR 378, 386-88.

13 Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Dem. Rep. Congo v. Belg.), 2002 ICJ Rep. 3 (Feb. 14) [hereinafter Arrest Warrant]; Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (New Application: 2002) (Dem. Rep. Congo v. Rwanda), Jurisdiction and Admissibility, 2006 ICJ Rep. 6 (Feb. 3).

14 I Congreso del Partido, [1983] 1 A.C. 244, 260-61 (H.L.) (Wilberforce, L.J.); Trendtex Trading Corp. v. Central Bank of Nigeria, [1977] 1 Q.B., 529, 552-53 (Ca.), 16 ILM 471, 478 (1977); McElhinney v. Williams, [1995] 31.R. 382, 402 (Ir.), 104 ILR 691, 701; Lafontant v. Aristide, 844 F.Supp. 128, 131-33 (E.D.N.Y. 1994), 103 ILR 581, 584-86 (stating at p. 586 that “the grant of immunity is a privilege which the United States may withhold from any claimant”); United States v. Noriega, 746 F.Supp. 1506, 1520-21 (S.D. Fla. 1990), 99 ILR 143, 162-63; Rosalyn HlGgins, Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It 81 (1994); D. P. O’Connell, International Law 846 (2d ed. 1970); 1 L. Oppenheim, International Law 274 (H. Lauterpacht ed., 8th ed. 1955); Watts, Arthur, The Legal Position in International Law of Heads of States, Heads of Governments and Foreign Ministers, 247 Recueil Des Cours 9, 36, 53 (1994 III)Google Scholar.

15 Holland v. Lampen-Wolfe, [2000] UKHL 40, [2000] 3 All E.R. 833, 845; Commissioner of Police, ex parte Pinochet, [1999] UKHL 17, [1999] 2 All E.R. 97, 113-14, 165-66, 179; R. v. Bartle, exparte Pinochet, [1998] UKHL 41, [ 1998] 4 All E.R. 897, 939 – 40,945-46; I Congreso del Partido, [1983] 1 A.C. at 268; Hilao v. Marcos, 25 F.3d 1467, 1469-72 (9th Cir. 1994), 104 ILR 119, 122-25 (stating at p. 124 that these violations were “as adjudicable and redressable as would be a dictator’s act of rape”) (quoting Republic of the Philippines v. Marcos, 862 F.2d 1355, 1361 (9th Cir. 1988)); see also Arrest Warrant, 2002 ICJ Rep. at 85, 88-89, paras. 74, 85 (sep. op. Higgins, Kooijmans, & Buergenthal, JJ).

16 See Holland v. Lampen-Wolfe, [2000] 3 All E.R. at 845-46; McElhinney, [1995] 3 I.R. 382, 104 ILR 691; Littrell v. United States of America (No. 2), [1995] 1 W.L.R. 82 (C.A).

17 For an overview, see Bettauer, Ronald, Germany Sues Italy at the International Court of Justice on Foreign Sovereign Immunity—Legal Underpinnings and Implications for U.S. Law, ASIL Insights (Nov. 19, 2009)Google Scholar. The adoption on March 13, 2012, after the Court’s judgment was delivered, of the amendments to the Canadian State Immunity Act (R.S.C. 1985, с. S-l 8) to enable the victims of terrorism to sue the relevant foreign states further reinforces this point.

18 See Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Art. 53, opened for signature May 23, 1969, 1155 UNTS 331.

19 Institut de droit international, Naples Session, Resolution on the Immunity from Jurisdiction of the State and of Persons Who Act on Behalf of the State in Case of International Crimes pmbl. (2009), at http://www.idi-iil.org/idíE/resolutionsE/2009_naples_0 l_en.pdf.

20 Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, in Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Fifty-third Session 43, UN GAOR, 56th Sess., Supp. No. 10, UN Doc. A/56/10 (2001).

21 See Memorandum by the Secretariat, Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction, para. 46, UN Doc. A/CN.4/596, at 31-32 (Mar. 31, 2008).