How far does the Systemic Approach to Immunities take us?

¹ Int'l Law Comm'n, Report on the Work of Its Sixty-Ninth Session, UN Doc. A/72/10 (Sept. 11, 2017) [hereinafter 2017 ILC Report].

² Secretariat Memorandum para. 17, UN Doc. A/CN.4/596 (2008).

³ Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations preambl. para 4, Apr. 18, 1961, 500 UNTS 95 [hereinafter VCDR].

⁴ Id. art. 39(2) (it is narrower than immunity ratione materiae in that it only exists with respect to the jurisdiction of the receiving state).

⁵ Benkharbouche v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Libya v. Janah, [2017] UKSC 62, para. 40.

⁶ For the close relationship with immunity of a head of state, see Joanne Foakes, The Position of Heads of State and Senior Officials In International Law 43–7 (2014).

⁷ VCDR, supra note 3, art. 31.

⁸ Reyes v. Al-Malki, [2017] UKSC 61, para. 28.

⁹ Id.

¹⁰ For a good overview, see Foakes, supra note 6, at 8–9.

¹¹ Concepción Escobar Hernández (Special Rapporteur for Immunity for of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdisction), Fifth Report, UN Doc. A/CN.4/701 (June 14, 2016) [hereinafter Fifth Report].

¹² Id. at paras. 24–25, 173

¹³ Id. at 50 n. 233; 2017 ILC Report, supra note 1, at 179 n. 762.

¹⁴ Fifth Report, supra note 11, at paras. 44, 45. See also id. at para. 26 where the Special Rapporteur observes that UNCSI is “in principle less relevant . . . since it refers to immunity from jurisdiction of the State.”

¹⁵ 2017 ILC Report, supra note 1, at 179–80 n. 763.

¹⁶ Id. at 182 n. 766.

¹⁷ Fifth Report, supra note 11, at para. 225.

¹⁸ See infra note 27.

¹⁹ Fifth Report, supra note 11, at para. 227.

²⁰ Id.

²¹ Letelier v. Chile, 748 F.2d 790 (2d Cir. 1984); Corte di cassazione (Cass.), 11 marzo 2004, n. 5044/04 Ferrini v. Ger., 128 ILR 674 (It.) and Cass., Areios Pagos [A.P.] [Supreme Court] 11/2000 Prefecture of Voiotia v. Ger. (Greece), 129 ILR 513.

²² Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, May 15, 1995 (This is not an inter-state case and Germany did not claim immunity. It was a constitutional question of proportionality, not immunity); R v. Mafart and Prieur, (N.Z.) (Nov. 22, 1985) (France did not claim immunity on behalf of its officials); Jiménez v. Aristeguieta , 311 F.2d 547 (5th Circuit, 1962) (this was an extradition case based on a 1922 bilateral treaty. The doctrine in question was act of state, not immunity); Corte di cassazione (Cass.), 29 novembre 2012, n. 46340/2012, ILDC 1960 (IT 2012) (It.) (The United States did not invoke immunity for its officials and the territorial exception was not discussed).

²³ Jane Doe I v. Liu Qi, Plaintiff A, v. Xia Deren, United States District Court, N.D. California (C 02-0672 CW, C 02 -0695 CW).

²⁴ Prosecutor v. Blaškić, Case No. IT-95-14-AR108 bis, Request of the Republic of Croatia for Review of the Decision of Trial Chamber II of 18 July 1997, Appeals Chamber Judgment para. 41 (Oct. 29, 1997).

²⁵ Khurts Bat v. Investigating Judge of the German Federal Court, [2011] EWHC 2029 (Admin).

²⁶ See Sixty-Ninth Session, International Law Commission.

²⁷ Int'l Law Commission, Immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction: Titles of Parts Two and Three, and texts and titles of draft Article 7 and annex provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the sixty-ninth session, UN Doc. A/CN.4/L.893 (2017). The (recorded) vote was twenty-one in favor, eight against, one abstention. See also Giulia Bernabei, Nobody's Land: Where All Step but No One Settles, iLawyer Blog (Dec. 10, 2017).

²⁸ 2017 ILC Report, supra note 1, at para 126.

²⁹ Hazel Fox & Philippa Webb, The Law of State Immunity 620 (3d ed 2015).

³⁰ Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Ger. v. It.), 2012 ICJ Rep. 99, para. 91 (Feb. 2).

³¹ Stichting Mothers of Srebrenica v. Neth. para. 158, App No. 65542/12 (Eur. Ct. H.R., June 11, 2013).

³² Jones v. UK, 2014 Eur. Ct. H.R. 176, para 92; Kazemi Estate v. Iran, [2014] S.C.R. 176 (Can.).

³³ Expressed in its third preambular paragraph.

³⁴ See Draft Article 1(2) and Commentary thereto.

³⁵ United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property art. 3, Dec. 2, 2004, GA Res. 59/38.

³⁶ GA Res 59/38 para. 2 (2004).

³⁷ Reyes, supra note 8. Compare Article 11 UNCSI and Article 31(1)(c) VCDR.

³⁸ VCDR, supra note 3, art. 39(2).

³⁹ Reyes, supra note 8, at paras. 26–33.

⁴⁰ Id., at paras. 63–5.

⁴¹ Id., at para. 65.

⁴² Id. at para. 68.