State Representatives' Immunity (Monograph in Danish)
STATSREPRAESENTANTERS IMMUNITET, Thomson Publishers, Copenhagen, 2005
6 Pages Posted: 13 Jan 2009
Date Written: November 1, 2005
Abstract
Traditionally international legal scholars have divided the concept of immunity into two separate categories: 1) State immunity and 2) Immunity enjoyed by certain state representatives due to their official status, e.g. diplomats and heads of state.
The objective of the present dissertation, State Representatives' Immunity, is to provide a comprehensive account for the extent to which state officials of any status are entitled to immunity in criminal and civil cases before national courts of foreign states and before international courts.
With the exception of diplomatic and consular immunity, no global convention has yet been adopted in this field. Despite its significant practical importance, the immunity of state representatives is therefore one of the few principal disciplines in international law that is still primarily governed by customary rules. Thorough analyses of case law from both national and international jurisdictions must be conducted before any statements can be made about the current legal position. The dissertation examines case law from a large number of states, e.g. The United Kingdom, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Austria, Israel, Denmark, Mexico, Sweden and Germany. Notably, The United States courts contribute by far the most substantial part of existing case law regarding state representatives' immunity, which is clearly reflected in the table of cases.
Considerable attention is given to case law from the various international courts, e.g. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and The International Criminal Court (ICC).
International case law is characterized by remarkable inconsistencies in the application of the fundamental legal concepts and distinctions. Neither in criminal nor in civil cases is it possible to give an exact description of the boundaries of state representatives' immunity. In consequence, the dissertation merely endeavours to provide an up-to-the-minute account of the legal status in a field of international law currently undergoing rapid development.
Note: Downloadable document is in Danish,
Keywords: immunity, state officials, international crimes
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