The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property - International Law - Law

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The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property

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Systematic article-by-article commentary on this key international convention, drawing on its negotiating history, relevant state practice, and case law international courts and arbitral tribunals
Features thematic chapters dealing with issues such as the theoretical underpinnings of state immunity and the process leading to the adoption of the Convention
Includes contributions from a stellar team of international experts
Concerns issues of vital importance to domestic courts as well as international litigation

State immunity, the idea that a state, including its individual organs, officials and other emanations, may not be proceeded against in the courts of another state in certain instances, has long been and remains a source of international controversy. Although customary international law no longer recognizes the absolute immunity of states from foreign judicial process, the evolution of the contemporary notion of restrictive state immunity over the past fifty years has been an uncoordinated and contested process, leading to disputes between states. The adoption, in 2004, of the United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property has significantly contributed to reaching consensus among states on this fundamental question of international law.

This book provides article-by-article commentary on the text of the Convention, complemented by a small number of cross-cutting chapters highlighting general issues beyond the scope of any single provision, such as the theoretical underpinnings of state immunity, the distinction between immunity from suit and immunity from execution, the process leading to the adoption of the Convention, and the general understanding that the Convention does not extend to criminal matters. It presents a systematic analysis of the Convention, taking into account its drafting history, relevant state practice (including the considerable number of national statutes and judicial decisions on state immunity), and any international judicial or arbitral decisions on point.

Readership: Scholars, practitioners, and legal advisers working in the areas of general international law, state responsibility, jurisdiction, and immunities

James Crawford: Foreword
Roger O'Keefe & Christian J. Tams: General introduction
Elizabeth Wilmshurst: Distinction between immunity of state from proceedings and immunity of state property from measures of constraint
Roger O'Keefe & Christian J. Tams: Preamble
Roger O'Keefe: Article 1
Dapo Akande: Article 2(1)(a) and (b)
Stephan Wittich: Article 2(1)(c), (2) and (3)
Rosanne Van Alebeek: Article 3
Jean d'Aspremont: Article 4
Dapo Akande: Article 5
Dapo Akande: Article 6
J. Craig Barker: Article 7
J. Craig Barker: Article 8
Rosanne Van Alebeek: Introduction to Part III
Stephan Wittich: Article 10
Joanne Foakes: Article 11
Joanne Foakes: Article 12
Cedric Ryngaert: Article 13
Cedric Ryngaert: Article 14
Cedric Ryngaert: Article 15
Douglas Guilfoyle: Article 16
Kate Parlett: Article 17
Chester Brown: Article 18
Chester Brown: Article 19
J. Craig Barker: Article 20
Chester Brown: Article 21
Shaheed Fatima: Article 22
Shaheed Fatima: Article 23
Shaheed Fatima: Article 24
Jean d'Aspremont: Article 25
Jean d'Aspremont: Article 26
Christian J. Tams: Article 27
Antonios Tzanakopoulos: Article 28
Antonios Tzanakopoulos: Article 29
Antonios Tzanakopoulos: Article 30
Antonios Tzanakopoulos: Article 31
TBC: Article 32
TBC: Article 33

Edited by Roger O'Keefe, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Cambridge, and Christian J. Tams, Professor of International Law, University of Glasgow

Roger O'Keefe is a Senior Lecturer in Law and the Deputy Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge, as well as a Fellow and College Lecturer in Law at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He is the author of The Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict (CUP, 2006) as well as of several articles on the immunities of states.

Christian J. Tams is Professor of International Law at the University of Glasgow (U.K.). He is a qualified lawyer in Germany (admitted 2005) and holds LL.M. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Cambridge. His research in international law focuses on investment protection, the role of international courts and tribunals, and the law of State responsibility. In addition to his academic work, he has advised states in proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). He is a member of the German Court of Arbitration for Sports and of the ILA Committee on the Use of Force, and has held visiting appointments at universities in China, France and Lithuania. He is an editor of, inter alia, The Convention on theJurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property: A Commentary and The Development of International Law by the International Court of Justice.

Contributors:
Dapo Akande, University Lecturer in Public International Law, University of Oxford
J. Craig Barker, Professor of Law, University of Sussex
Chester Brown, Associate Professor of Law, University of Sydney
James Crawford, Whewell Professor of International Law in the University of Cambridge
Jean D'Aspremont, Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow, Amsterdam Centre for International Law, University of Amsterdam
Shaheed Fatima, barrister, Blackstone Chambers, London
Joanne Foakes, Associate Fellow, International Law, Chatham House
Douglas Guilfoyle, Lecturer in Law, University College London
Gerhard Hafner, Professor of International Law and International Relations at the University of Vienna and Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property
Kate Parlett, Freshfields, Paris
Cedric Ryngaert, Lecturer in International Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Dr Antonios Tzanakopoulos, Lecturer in International Law, University of Glasgow
Rosanne Van Alebeek, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Amsterdam
Stephan Wittich, Assistant Professor of International Law, University of Vienna