Yep, you read that right. On Friday this week the ICJ will be handing down its much anticipated judgment in the Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening) case, dealing with the whole Ferrini and Distomo immunity saga. Coincidentally, that same saga forms a large chunk of this year’s Jessup moot court competition, with hundreds of law students around the globe having toiled away at their memorials over the past few months and now busily preparing themselves for the national and international oral rounds of the competition (the latter taking place in the last week of March in Washington, DC). The compromis this year is a rather good one (read it here), dealing not just with immunities but also with the legitimacy of governments, attribution of conduct to international organizations, use of force, etc. All the more pity the ICJ is now poised to throw a wrench in it – judicial comity regrettably does not seem to extend to its pretend counterparts around the globe. I can just imagine the pain of all those students who will be forced to ‘distinguish’ the Court’s freshly-minted judgment in their oral pleadings (Germany is widely expected to win the case, but of course who knows). Bad karma for everybody involved. But the poor students mights still have their revenge, as the Court’s website may well crash from the Jessup hordes trying to access the live video feed and/or the judgment on Friday… Happy times.

(On a slightly more serious note, we’ll try to have commentary on the judgment as soon as possible).