State Immunity

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Swiss Court Finds No Immunity for the Former Algerian Minister of Defence Accused of War Crimes: Another Brick in the Wall of the Fight Against Impunity

Gabriella Citroni is Senior Researcher in International Law and Lecturer in International Human Rights Law at the University of Milano-Bicocca. Although she is Senior Legal Adviser for TRIAL, a Switzerland based NGO that filed the criminal complaint in the case discussed below, she has not been involved in this case. On 25 July 2012 the Swiss Federal Criminal Court issued a decision (which is available, in French, here) whereby it denied the existence of immunity ratione materiae for a former Algerian Minister of Defence accused of war crimes. This decision revives the ongoing debate on the sensitive issue of immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction and opens up for new perspectives for the application of the principle of universal jurisdiction. It also deals with other relevant matters related to the struggle against impunity. On 19 October 2011, TRIAL, a non-governmental organization active in the field of human rights headquartered in Switzerland filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Khaled Nezzar, accusing him of war crimes…

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If not torture, then how about terrorism – Canada amends its State Immunity Act

Most of our immunity-related discussions in recent weeks have focused (naturally) on the recent ICJ decision in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy, with Greece intervening). But there are new developments at the domestic level worth noting, including the passage this month of amendments to Canada’s State Immunity Act to allow victims of terrorism…

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Head of State Immunity is a Part of State Immunity: A Response to Jens Iverson

In a post here a couple of weeks ago Jens Iverson argues that “Nowhere does the Rome Statute explicitly recognize head of state immunity as a reason not to comply with obligations under the Statute.” He argues that although Article 98(1) of the ICC Statute instructs the Court not to proceed with “a request…

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Germany v. Italy: A View from the United States

Chimène I. Keitner is Associate Professor of Law, University of California Hastings College of the Law, and Co-Chair of the ASIL International Law in Domestic Courts Interest Group. In 2010, she represented amici Professors of Public International Law and Comparative Law in the U.S. Supreme Court case Samantar v. Yousuf.

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Head of State Immunity is not the same as State Immunity: A Response to the African Union’s Position on Article 98 of the ICC Statute

Jens Iverson is a researcher for the Jus Post Bellum Project at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, University of Leiden, the Netherlands. On 9 January 2012, the African Union (AU) Commission issued a press release responding to the decisions (see…

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