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STATE IMMUNITY AND THIRD-PARTY LIMITS ON THE JURISDICTION OF DOMESTIC COURTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2023

Daniel Franchini Open the ORCID record for Daniel Franchini [Opens in a new window]
Daniel Franchini*
Affiliation:
Lecturer in International Law, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, d.franchini@sheffield.ac.uk.
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Abstract

Recent case law has evidenced doctrinal ambiguity concerning whether State immunity precludes domestic courts’ jurisdiction when rights and interests of third-party States may be affected. This article posits that such confusion arises from a failure to recognize State immunity as a rule predicated on the sovereign status of the defendant. Through an analysis of State practice, the article contends that the concept of indirect impleading incorporated in the United Nations Convention on State Immunity does not challenge the status-based nature of this rule. Construing State immunity as a subject-matter rule erroneously conflates it with distinct doctrines, such as Monetary Gold and the act of State doctrine.

Keywords

State immunityindirect impleadingMonetary Golddomestic courtsacts of Stateforeign affairsjurisdictionfunctional immunitynon-justiciability
Type
Shorter Articles
Information
International & Comparative Law Quarterly , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , July 2023 , pp. 819 - 835
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law

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Footnotes

The author would like to express his gratitude to Russell Buchan, Miles Jackson, Brian Christopher Jones, Callum Musto, Nikiforos Panagis and Nicholas Tsagourias for their helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this article. Any errors or omissions remain the sole responsibility of the author.

References

1 United Mexican States v British Columbia (Labour Relations Board) (2014) 169 ILR 639.

2 Belhaj and another v Straw and others [2017] UKSC 3; [2017] AC 964.

3 Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and Another v Owner and Charterers of the MV ‘NM Cherry Blossom’ and Others [2017] ZAECPEHC 31.

4 WhatsApp Inc v NSO Grp Techs Ltd, 472 F Supp 3d 649 (ND Cal 2020).

5 Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 7.

6 See Dinstein, Y, ‘Par in Parem Non Habet Imperium’ (1966) 1 IsLR 407Google Scholar.

7 See, eg, Panhuys, HF Van, ‘In the Borderland Between the Act of State Doctrine and Questions of Jurisdictional Immunities’ (1964) 13 ICLQ 1193, 1200Google Scholar; Schaack, B Van, ‘Par in Parem Imperium Non Habet: Complementarity and the Crime of Aggression’ (2012) 10 JICJ 133, 149Google Scholar; D Akande, ‘Prosecuting Aggression: The Consent Problem and the Role of the Security Council’ (2011) Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper 10/2011, 33.

8 See, eg, Grant, T, ‘Article 6’ in O'Keefe, R, Tams, CJ and Tzanakopoulos, A (eds), The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property (OUP 2013) 109Google Scholar; Fox, H and Webb, P, The Law of State Immunity (revised 3rd edn, OUP 2015) 368Google Scholar; Angelet, N, ‘Immunity and the Exercise of Jurisdiction—Indirect Impleading and Exequatur’ in Ruys, T, Angelet, N and Ferro, L (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Immunities and International Law (CUP 2019) 82Google Scholar; Lloyd-Jones, Lord, ‘Forty Years On: State Immunity and the State Immunity Act 1978’ (2019) 68 ICLQ 247, 265Google Scholar; Ruys, T, ‘The Role of State Immunity and Act of State in the NM Cherry Blossom Case and the Western Sahara Dispute’ (2019) 68 ICLQ 67, 72CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 See, eg, Akande (n 7) 13; Angelet, ibid 88; Ruys, ibid 75.

10 See Akande, D and Tzanakopoulos, A, ‘The International Court of Justice and the Concept of Aggression’ in Kreß, C and Barriga, S (eds), The Crime of Aggression: A Commentary (CUP 2016) 214Google Scholar.

11 The only exception would be prosecution by the victim State as a form of self-help; see Akande (n 7) 33.

12 See T Dannenbaum, ‘Mechanisms for Criminal Prosecution of Russia's Aggression Against Ukraine’ (Just Security, 10 March 2022) <https://www.justsecurity.org/80626/mechanisms-for-criminal-prosecution-of-russias-aggression-against-ukraine>; KJ Heller, ‘The Best Option: An Extraordinary Ukrainian Chamber for Aggression’ (Opinio Juris, 16 March 2022) <https://opiniojuris.org/2022/03/16/the-best-option-an-extraordinary-ukrainian-chamber-for-aggression>.

13 Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy: Greece Intervening) (Judgment) [2012] ICJ Rep 99, 123, para 57. See also Fox and Webb (n 8) 25; Crawford, J, Brownlie's Principles of Public International Law (9th edn, OUP 2019) 471CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Gaeta, P, Viñuales, JE and Zappalà, S, Cassese's International Law (3rd edn, OUP 2020) 122CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15 Schooner Exchange v McFaddon, 11 U.S. 116 (1812); Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy: Greece Intervening) (n 13) para 57. See also Dinstein (n 6) 418–19; Fox and Webb (n 8) 35; Douglas, Z, ‘State Immunity for the Acts of State Officials’ (2012) 82 BYIL 281, 316Google Scholar.

16 Fox and Webb have identified a third model; see Fox and Webb (n 8) 38.

17 See Alebeek, R Van, The Immunity of States and Their Officials in International Criminal Law and International Human Rights Law (OUP 2008) 48CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

18 ibid 59.

19 See Van Panhuys (n 7) 1208; MG Kohen, ‘Definition of “State”’ in G Hafner, MG Kohen and S Breau (eds), State Practice Regarding State Immunities/La Pratique des États concernant les Immunités des Etats (Brill 2006) 5.

20 See, eg, J Crawford, ‘International Law and Foreign Sovereigns: Distinguishing Immune Transactions’ (1983) 54 BYIL 75, 79; P-T Stoll, ‘State Immunity’ in A Peters and R Wolfrum (eds), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (OUP 2011) para 13; Fox and Webb (n 8) 339; Van Alebeek (n 17) 83; Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 14 (Lord Mance).

21 North Sea Continental Shelf Cases (Federal Republic of Germany v Denmark; Federal Republic of Germany v Netherlands) (Judgment) [1969] ICJ Rep 3, 45, para 77; ILC, Draft conclusions on identification of customary international law, with commentaries (30 April–1 June and 2 July–10 August 2018) UN Doc A/73/10, 124.

22 Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy: Greece Intervening) (n 13) para 55.

23 On 7 July 2022, Benin became the twenty-third State Party. For the entry into force of the Convention, 30 ratifications are required.

24 Not only has the ILC attempted to codify custom, but national and international courts also use UNCSI as a useful, albeit not always definitive, guidance to identify the rules of immunity; see Webb, P, ‘International Law and Restraints on the Exercise of Jurisdiction by National Courts of States’ in Evans, M (ed), International Law (5th edn, OUP 2018) 323Google Scholar; O'Keefe, Tams and Tzanakopoulos (n 8) xli.

25 See Douglas (n 15) 313; Grant (n 8) 110.

26 Grant (n 8) 109.

27 State practice must be ‘sufficiently widespread and representative, as well as consistent’; see ILC (n 21) 135.

28 ILC, ‘Draft Articles on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, With Commentaries’ (1991) 2(2) UNYBILC 13, 24–5. See also S Sucharitkul, ‘Third Report on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property’ (1981) 2(1) UNYBILC 126, 141.

29 Grant (n 8) 109. Almost all the examples cited by the ILC refer to such cases; see ILC, ibid 25.

30 See The Bold Buccleugh (1851) 7 Moore PC 267, 13 ER 884.

31 The Parlement Belge (1880) 5 PD 197, 217–18 (emphasis added).

32 eg The Public Prosecutor for the Treasury v The United States Shipping Board, Owner of the Ship ‘Cathelamet’ (1929) 3 ADIL 184 (Portugal). See C Pejovic, ‘Civil Law and Common Law: Two Different Paths Leading to the Same Goal’ (2001) 32(3) VictUWellLRev 817, 836–7.

33 Notably, the US Supreme Court expressly distanced itself from the House of Lords’ reasoning in Berizzi Bros Co v The Pesaro, 271 U.S. 562 (1926) 575. See also The Navemar, 303 U.S. 68 (1938) 74; Republic of Mexico v Hoffman, 324 U.S. 30, 34–5 (1945).

34 India v India Steamship Co Ltd (The ‘Indian Grace’) (No 2) [1998] AC 878, 913 (Lord Steyn).

35 Moreover, since in rem actions involve both adjudication and enforcement against the owner's property, immunity questions are usually resolved based on the rules governing immunity from execution for State property; see Brussels Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to the Immunity of State-Owned Vessels (10 April 1926) 176 LNTS 199, art 3; State Immunity Act of 1978, section 10; Alcom Ltd v Republic of Colombia [1984] AC 580, 600 (Lord Diplock). See also Fox and Webb (n 8) 175.

36 Grant (n 8) 110.

37 Dollfus Mieg et Compagnie SA v Bank of England [1952] AC 582; Rahimtoola v Nizam of Hyderabad and another [1958] AC 379. For a critique, see FA Mann, ‘The State Immunity Act 1978’ (1979) 50 BYIL 43, 56.

38 Particularly in the case of trust funds; see Larivière v Morgan (1871–72) LR 7 Ch App 550, 560 (UK); Lamont v Travelers Insurance Company (1942) 9 ADIL 207, 211 (US); Republic of the Philippines v Maler Foundation and Others (2012) 150 ILR 741 (Singapore).

39 See R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet Ugarte (No 3) [2000] 1 AC 147, 286 (Lord Philips); Jones v Saudi Arabia [2007] 1 AC 270, 290 (Lord Bingham); Al Attiya v Bin-Jassim Bin-Jaber Al Thani [2016] EWHC 212 (QB) para 13 (Blake J). See also Grant (n 8) 110.

40 See Jaffe v Miller, 1993 CarswellOnt 1185, para 32. In a similar vein, see also Twycross v Dreyfus (1877) 5 Ch D 605, 618–19 (James LJ).

41 See Douglas (n 15) 308. On functional immunity, see ILC, ‘Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction: Memorandum by the Secretariat’ (31 March 2008) UN Doc A/CN.4/596, paras 88–89; D Akande and S Shah, ‘Immunities of State Officials, International Crimes, and Foreign Domestic Courts’ (2010) 21 EJIL 815, 817; Crawford (n 13) 477.

42 See Akande and Shah, ibid 826; Douglas (n 15) 322–3; Prosecutor v Blaškić (Judgement on the Request of the Republic of Croatia for Review of the Decision of Trial Chamber II of 18 July 1997) IT-95-14 (29 October 1997) para 38; Re Rissmann (1973) 71 ILR 577, 581 (Italy). It is possible that the conduct may also be attributable to the individual State official; see ILC, ‘Preliminary Report on Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction: By Roman Anatolevich Kolodkin, Special Rapporteur’ (29 May 2008) UN Doc A/CN.4/601, 179–80.

43 Akande and Shah (n 41) 826.

44 See Douglas (n 15) 287.

45 See Douglas (n 15) 315; Belhaj v Straw [2015] 2 WLR 1105, 1126; Benkharbouche v Embassy of Sudan [2015] EWCA Civ 33, para 36. When the provision was drafted several States were ‘concerned about [its] potential breadth’: Report of the Secretary-General (1992) UN Doc A-47-326, 29–30 (US), 4 (Australia), 25 (UK). Some States objected earlier in the drafting process; see Comments and observations received from Governments, UN Doc A/CN.4/410 and Add.1–5, 68 (East Germany), 52 (Australia).

46 See Van Alebeek (n 17) 67; Angelet (n 8) 81.

47 Van Anraat, No 09/751003-04 (23 December 2005) para 4.2, official translation at Rechtspraak.nl.

48 KPMG Peat Marwick and Others v Davison (1997) 104 ILR 526.

49 ibid 531.

50 United Mexican States v British Columbia (n 1).

51 ibid, para 68 (Warren J).

52 WhatsApp Inc v NSO Grp Techs Ltd (n 4). See R Buchan and D Franchini, ‘WhatsApp v. NSO Group: State Immunity and Cyber Spying’ (Just Security, 16 April 2020) <https://www.justsecurity.org/69684/whatsapp-v-nso-group-state-immunity-and-cyber-spying>.

53 WhatsApp Inc v NSO Grp Techs Ltd (n 4) 679. The decision was affirmed on appeal, albeit on other grounds: WhatsApp Inc v NSO Grp Techs Ltd, 17 F 4th 930 (9th Cir 2021).

54 Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 7.

55 ibid, para 29 (Lord Mance), para 197 (Lord Sumption).

56 See Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 30 (Lord Mance). See also United Mexican States v British Columbia (n 1) para 135 (Warren J).

57 Belhaj v Straw (n 2) 1039.

58 Case of the Monetary Gold Removed from Rome in 1943 (Italy v France, UK and USA) (Preliminary Question) [1954] ICJ Rep 19.

59 East Timor (Portugal v Australia) (Judgment) [1995] ICJ Rep 90.

60 Belhaj v Straw (n 2) 1039.

61 ILC, ‘Commentary to the Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind’ (1996) 2(2) UNYBILC 15, 30.

62 See Status of Eastern Carelia (Advisory Opinion) [1923] PCIJ Rep Series B No 5, 27; Merrills, JG and Brabandere, E de, Merrills’ International Dispute Settlement (7th edn, CUP 2022) 5CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

63 Case of the Monetary Gold Removed from Rome in 1943 (n 58) 32.

64 East Timor (Portugal v Australia) (n 59) 103.

65 Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 27; Cherry Blossom (n 3) para 69.

66 Cherry Blossom (n 3) paras 68–69.

67 Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 27 (Lord Mance); Cherry Blossom (n 3) para 71.

68 See Akande (n 7) 13; Ruys (n 8) 75–6; Angelet (n 8) 88.

69 Ruys (n 8) 76.

70 See Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 193 (Lord Sumption); Cherry Blossom (n 3) para 71.

71 See Z Mollengarden and N Zamir, ‘The Monetary Gold Principle: Back to Basics’ (2021) 115(1) AJIL 41.

72 O Pomson, ‘Does the Monetary Gold Principle Apply to International Courts and Tribunals Generally?’ (2019) 10(1) JIDS 88, 117.

73 See D Akande, ‘Introduction to the Symposium on Zachary Mollengarden & Noam Zamir “The Monetary Gold Principle: Back to Basics”’ (2021) 115 AJIL Unbound 140, 141.

74 For example, a Pre-Trial Chamber held that the doctrine does not apply to the International Criminal Court: Decision on the ‘Prosecution Request Pursuant to Article 19(3) for a Ruling on the Court's Territorial Jurisdiction in Palestine’ (5 February 2021) ICC-01/18, paras 58–60. According to the European Union (EU) Advocate General's opinion in R (on the application of Western Sahara Campaign UK) v Revenue and Customs Commissioners (C-266/16), the doctrine ‘does not exist in the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EU and, in any event, could not exist in EU law’: [2018] 3 CMLR 15, 489. For a critique of arguments supporting Monetary Gold based on general principles, see Pomson (n 72) 109–10.

75 See Akande (n 7) 13; Ruys (n 8) 77.

76 Crawford (n 20) 80.

77 R Jennings, The Place of the Jurisdictional Immunity of States in International and Municipal Law (Europa-Institüt 1988) 3–4; S Sucharitkul, ‘Fifth Report on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property’ (1983) 2(1) UNYBILC 25, 57–8; Van Alebeek (n 17) 74–5.

78 See A Pellet, ‘Judicial Settlement of International Disputes’ in A Peters and R Wolfrum (eds), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (2013) para 25.

79 ICJ Statute, art 59.

80 For instance, as pointed out by Lord Sumption, ‘each of the parties would have been bound to deal with the non-party in accordance with it’; see Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 193. See also A Tzanakopoulos ‘Resolving Disputes over the South China Sea under the Compulsory Dispute Settlement System of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea’ (2017) 14 Soochow LJ 119, 133.

81 See A Tzanakopoulos, ‘Domestic Courts in International Law: The International Judicial Function of National Courts’ (2011) 34(1) LoyLAIntl&CompLRev 133, 165–7.

82 Cherry Blossom (n 3) para 84. See also Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 31 (Lord Mance), para 193 (Lord Sumption).

83 P Wrange, ‘The Crime of Aggression, Domestic Prosecutions and Complementarity’ in Kreß and Barriga (eds) (n 10) 713. See also Dannenbaum (n 12); Heller (n 12).

84 Wrange (n 83) 713.

85 See Dannenbaum, T, The Crime of Aggression, Humanity, and the Soldier (CUP 2018) 18–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

86 See Van Alebeek (n 17) 83; Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 196 (Lord Sumption).

87 The term refers to techniques for bypassing applicable international legal provisions; see International Law Association Study Group on Principles on the Engagement of Domestic Courts with International Law, Final Report (2016) para 19. In a substantive sense, State immunity can also be considered one of these techniques; see Webb (n 24) 316.

88 See Underhill v Hernandez, 168 U.S. 250 (1897); Buttes Gas and Oil Co v Hammer (No 3) [1982] AC 888, 932–3 (Lord Wilberforce); Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 118 (Lord Neuberger); Crawford (n 13) 70; Webb (n 24) 340.

89 See Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 40 (Lord Mance), para 123 (Lord Neuberger); Webb (n 24) 343–4.

90 See Baker v Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962) 217.

91 See Buttes Gas and Oil Co v Hammer (No 3) (n 88) 938; Lord Mance, ‘Justiciability’ (2018) 67 ICLQ 739; M Teo, ‘Narrowing Foreign Affairs Non-Justiciability’ (2021) 70 ICLQ 505. Non-justiciability includes doctrines such as the French ‘acte de gouvernement’ or the Italian ‘atto di governo’; see UK and Governor of Hong Kong (1993) 106 ILR 233 (France); President of the Council of Ministers (Italy) v Marković and Others (2002) 128 ILR 652; Crawford (n 13) 94–8.

92 See Underhill v Hernandez (n 88) 254; Van Alebeek (n 17) 82; Stoll (n 20) para 5; Hernández, G, International Law (2nd edn, OUP 2022) 237–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

93 See Crawford (n 13) 70; Hernández, ibid 238.

94 See Crawford (n 13) 79.

95 See Kadić v Karadžić, 70 F.3d 232, 249 (2d Cir. 1995); Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 126 (Lord Neuberger).

96 Oetjen v Central Leather Co., 246 U.S. 297, 304 (1918); R (on the application of Khan) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2014] 1 WLR 872, 883.

97 See, eg, Shergill v Khaira [2015] AC 359, 378; Greenham Women against Cruise Missiles v Reagan, 591 F. Supp. 1332 (1984); President of the Council v Marković (n 91). Unlike State immunity, non-justiciability is not defeasible with the defendant's consent; see Crawford (n 20) 81–2.

98 In 1951, the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam held that the act of State doctrine had international law status; see South Moluccas v Royal Packet Shipping Company (1956) 17 ILR 143, 152. This reasoning was abandoned in the more recent Van Anraat (n 47).

99 Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 200 (Lord Sumption). See also Crawford (n 13) 71; Stoll (n 20) para 14.

100 For example, varying degrees of deference to the executive can be observed between English and German courts; see Crawford (n 13) 58, 95.

101 See Kuwait Airways v Iraqi Airways (Nos 4 and 5) [2002] 2 AC 883, 1081 (Lord Nicholls); Belhaj v Straw (n 2) para 262 (Lord Sumption).

102 Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy: Greece Intervening) (n 13) para 93.

103 See ILC, ‘Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts with Commentaries’ (2001) 2(2) UNYBILC 31, 36.

104 Bar, L Von, The Theory and Practice of Private International Law (2nd edn, William Green & Sons 1892) 1121Google Scholar.

105 See eg Campione v Peti-Nitrogenmuvek NV and Hungarian Republic (1984) 65 ILR 287 (Italy); Oder-Neisse Property Expropriation Case (1984) 65 ILR 127 (Germany); S v Socialist Republic of Romania and Another (1990) 82 ILR 45 (Switzerland). The US is an outlier, as section 1605(a)(3) of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act provides an exception to State immunity for ‘rights in property taken in violation of international law’; see D Franchini, ‘State Immunity as a Tool of Foreign Policy: The Unanswered Question of Certain Iranian Assets’ (2019) 60 VaJIntlL 433, 453.

106 For an overview of this practice, see Wood, PR, Conflict of Laws and International Finance (2nd edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2019) chapter 58Google Scholar, paras 27–33.

107 eg Expropriation of Eastern Zone Company (Germany) Case (1958) 22 ILR 14; Expropriation of Sudeten-German Cooperative Society Case (1961) 24 ILR 35; Hungarian Aircraft Company Case (1987) 72 ILR 82; SARL des Établissements Sidney-Merlin v Directeur des Domaines de la Seine et al (1972) 45 ILR 47 (France); Società Ornati v Archimedes Rechenmaschinenfabrik Reinhold Pothig (1963) 28 ILR 39 (Italy). See also Meessen, KM, Economic Law in Globalizing Markets (Kluwer Law International 2004) 184Google Scholar.

108 eg Expropriation of Insurance Companies Case (1957) 18 ILR 197.

109 eg Expropriations in Czechoslovakia (Austria) Case (1978) 51 ILR 22; Société Algérienne de Commerce Algo and Others v Sempac and Others (1984) 65 ILR 73 (France); Texaco Overseas Petroleum Company and California Asiatic Oil Company v Montedison, Libyan National Oil Corporation and Villanelle Établissement (1988) 77 ILR 584 (Italy).

110 For example, the Austrian Supreme Court cited potential interference with ongoing negotiations between the relevant States; see Expropriations in Czechoslovakia (Austria) Case, ibid.

111 See, eg, Senembah Maatschappij v Republiek Indonesie Bank Indonesia, reported in M Domke, ‘Indonesian Nationalization Measures Before Foreign Courts’ (1960) 54(2) AJIL 305, 308 (Netherlands); Expropriation of Eastern Zone Company (Germany) Case (1958) 22 ILR 14; Expropriation of Sudeten-German Co-Operative Society Case (n 107); Stephen et al v Zivnostenska Banka, National Corporation et al (1967) 33 ILR 184 (US); Hungarian Aircraft Company Case (n 107) (Belgium); Sociedad Minera el Teniente SA v Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (1987) 73 ILR 230 (Germany); BP Exploration Company (Libya) v Astro Protector Compania Naviera SA, Sincat and Linoco (1988) 77 ILR 543 (Italy).

112 Oppenheimer v Cattermole (Inspector of Taxes) [1976] AC 249, 278 (Lord Cross); Re Helbert Wagg & Co Ltd [1956] Ch 323, 349; Kuwait Airways v Iraqi Airways (Nos 4 and 5) (n 101) 1081 (Lord Nicholls), 1101 (Lord Steyn).

113 See Buttes Gas and Oil Co v Hammer (No 3) (n 88) 926 (Lord Wilberforce): ‘The doctrine of sovereign immunity has no application.’

114 See Kuwait Airways v Iraqi Airways (No 1) [1995] 1 WLR 1147, 1163 (Lord Goff).

115 See Webb (n 24) 344: ‘By accepting a plea of act of State the English court goes some way to endorsing the validity of the foreign State's act, whereas in immunity the court remains neutral.’ See also Angelet (n 8) 95.

116 Such an outcome would be inconsistent with the trend to restrict immunity in favour of closing accountability gaps; see generally Bismuth, R et al (eds), Sovereign Immunity Under Pressure (Springer 2022)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

117 Mance (n 91) 757.