State Immunity Act 1978

State Immunity Act 1978

The State Immunity Act 1978 is an Act made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in order to implement the European Convention on State Immunity of 1972 into British law. The doctrine of absolute state immunity was changed to one of restricted immunity, whereby a foreign state could be sued in the British Courts for some certain activities, usually of a commercial nature.

In 1998 the defence attempted to use it during Augusto Pinochet's arrest and trial, but Lord Nicholls said that the Act flouted a battery of international legislation on human rights abuses to which Britain is a signatory, and would have meant, according to the arguments of Pinochet's legal team, that British law would have protected even Adolf Hitler.

In June 2006 the law was used to dismiss an appeal by three Britons (Sandy Mitchell, "Les Walker" and "Ron Jones") and a Canadian (William Sampson) who were convicted and imprisoned for car bombings and illicit alcohol trading in Saudi Arabia. The Law Lords upheld an appeal by the government of Saudi Arabia against the four men who wished to sue the Saudi government for damages relating to alleged torture. Despite the ruling, the four continue to maintain that they were mistreated by Saudi officials both before and after they were jailed in November 2000. They were released from prison in 2003 on royal pardon. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5078118.stm]

External links

* [http://www.swarb.co.uk/acts/1978State_ImmunityAct.shtml Summary of important sections of the Act]
* [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199900/ldjudgmt/jd000720/hollan-2.htm House of Lords judgment in Holland v. Lampen-Wolfe]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 — Infobox UK Legislation short title=Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 parliament=United Kingdom Parliament long title=An Act to make provision about tribunals and inquiries; to establish an Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council; to …   Wikipedia

  • State of Palestine — This article is about the political entity proclaimed in 1988. For other uses, see Palestine (disambiguation). State of Palestine[1][i] دولة فلسطين …   Wikipedia

  • 1978 — This article is about the year 1978. Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century Decades: 1940s  1950s  1960s  – 1970s –  1980s   …   Wikipedia

  • Nonintercourse Act — Not to be confused with the Non Intercourse Act (1809). The Nonintercourse Act (also known as the Indian Intercourse Act or the Indian Nonintercourse Act) is the collective name given to six statutes passed by the United States Congress in 1790,… …   Wikipedia

  • Sovereign immunity — Not to be confused with the principle of public international law that the government of a state is normally not amenable before the courts of another state, see State immunity. Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine by which… …   Wikipedia

  • Diplomatic immunity — For other uses, see Diplomatic immunity (disambiguation). Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or… …   Wikipedia

  • Augusto Pinochet's arrest and trial — General Augusto Pinochet was indicted in 1998 by the Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón, arrested in London and finally released by the UK government in 2000. Authorized to freely return to Chile, he was there first indicted by the judge Juan… …   Wikipedia

  • Section summary of the USA PATRIOT Act, Title II — President George W. Bush gestures as he addresses an audience Wednesday, July 20, 2005 at the Port of Baltimore in Baltimore, Md., encouraging the renewal of provisions of the Patriot Act. The following is a section summary of the USA PATRIOT Act …   Wikipedia

  • USA PATRIOT Act, Title II — The USA PATRIOT Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2001 as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. It has ten titles, each containing numerous sections. Title II: Enhanced Surveillance Procedures granted increased powers of… …   Wikipedia

  • HISTORICAL SURVEY: THE STATE AND ITS ANTECEDENTS (1880–2006) — Introduction It took the new Jewish nation about 70 years to emerge as the State of Israel. The immediate stimulus that initiated the modern return to Zion was the disappointment, in the last quarter of the 19th century, of the expectation that… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”