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State Immunity Against Claims Arising from War Crimes: The Judgment of the International Court of Justice in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Paul Christoph Bornkamm

Extract

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The recent judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Case Concerning Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy; Greece Intervening) marks the climax of a series of legal proceedings before Greek, Italian, and German courts, as well as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) stretching over a period of more than fifteen years. The international community had eagerly awaited the ICJ's findings on the issue at the heart of the dispute, namely the scope of state immunity before foreign courts in cases concerning claims arising from serious violations of international humanitarian law. While most expected the Court to rule in favor of Germany and to uphold state immunity in principle, it was unclear whether the Court would acknowledge the increasing erosion of immunity with respect to serious violations of human rights or international humanitarian law. To the disappointment of many, the Court took a conservative approach and rejected the idea of an emerging exception from state immunity.

Type
Developments
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 13 , Issue 6 , June 2012 , pp. 773 - 782
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

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