The first pinochet case: Immunity of a former head of state

International and Comparative Law Quarterly

Volumn 48, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 207-216

  Warbrick, Colin ^a   Mcgoldrick, Dominic ^a   Fox, Hazel ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 84889744548     PISSN: 00205893     EISSN: 14716895     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0020589300062965     Document Type: Review

References (47)

1. R. v. Bow Street Stipendiary Magistrate and others, ex p. Pinochet Ugarte (Amnesty International and others intervening) (1998) 4 All E.R. 897.
2. See addendum. Lord Hoffmann gave no separate judgment After the hearing it was reported that he was a Director of Amnesty (Charily) International Ltd: The Times, 8 December 1998.
3. Pinochet, The Times, at p.947f.
4. On the basis that on 26 Oct. 1973 General Pinochet signed the letters of credential presented to the Queen by the Chilean Ambassador to the UK, and the Spanish government's reference to him as head of State in “its request for extradition, Lord Slynn of Hadley was prepared to find that the General had acted as the head of State: idem, p.904a-e.
5. Idem, p.936e.
6. US cases cited included Hatch v. Baez (1976) 7 Hun. 596
7. USA v. Noriega (1990) 746 F.Supp. 1506
8. Jimenez v. Aristeguieta (1962) 311 F.2d 547
9. Hilao v. Marcos (1994) 25 F.3d 1467.
10. Pinochet, F.3d, at p.940h.
11. Idem, p.943f.
12. Cases cited included Duke of Brunswick v. The King of Hanover (1848) 2 H.L.Cas. 1
13. Underhill v. Fernandez (1897) 169 U.S. 456
14. Buttes Gas and Oil Co. v. Hammer (1982) A.C 888
15. W.S. Kirkpatrick & Co. Inc. v. Environmental Tectonics Corp. Int. (1990) 493 U.S. 4000
16. Kuwait Airways Corp. v. Iraqi Airways Co. (Mance J, unrep. 29 July 1998).
17. Pinochet, U.S., at 938h.
18. Lord Nicholls referred to hostage-taking at the US embassy in Teheran in 1979, in aircraft hijackings in the 1970s, and the holding hostage of passengers of an El Al aircraft at Entebbe in June 1979; idem, p.938d.
19. Idem, p.934e-g.
20. Idem, p.919e.
21. Idem, p.918a-b.
22. Idem, pp.941h (Nicholls), 906h (Steyn).
23. Idem, p.931h.
24. A further argument that the exclusion in s.16(4) means that the immunity in respect of criminal proceedings which exists at common law is abolished was dismissed by Lord Lloyd; Stuart-Smith LJ's reference to the State Immunity Act as “a comprehensive code” in Al Adsani v. Government of Kuwait and others 107 I.L.R. 536, 542, did not provide a code in respect of matters which it did not purport to cover.
25. Pinochet, I.L.R., at p.944d.
26. Idem, p.939b.
27. Idem, p.932j.
28. Idem, p.907f.
29. Idem, p.908f.
30. Idem, p.926j.
31. Idem, p.927j.
32. Idem, p.929a.
33. Pinochet, Idem, at p.939g.
34. Idem, p.940a (Nicholls).
35. Idem, p.945h.
36. Idem, p.946d.
37. Idem, p.943d.
38. Idem, p.945b.
39. Idem, p.941e.
40. “the fact that in carrying out other functions, a Head of State commits an illegal act does not mean that he is no longer to be regarded as carrying out one of his functions. If it did, the immunity in respect of criminal acts would be deprived of much of its content”: idem, p.908a.
41. Idem, p.910h
42. referring to Sir Arthur Watts, “Legal Position in International Law of Heads of State, Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers” (1994) 247 Hag.Rec. 88–89.
43. Pinochet, idem, p.915c-e.
44. Trendtex Trading Corp. v. Central Bank of Nigeria [1977] Q.B. 529.
45. The Court of Appeal, Amsterdam, dismissed a claim brought against the Public Prosecutor for failure to prosecute Pinochet when on a visit to Amsterdam in 1995 stating that “It was evident that prosecution of Pinochet … could encounter so many legal and practical problems that the Public Prosecutor was perfectly within his rights not to prosecute”. (Chili Komitee Nederland v. Public Prosecutor 28 (1997) N.Y.I.L. 363–365).
46. Parliamentary Written Answers, 9 Dec. 1998, Vol.322, cols.213–217.
47. The Times, 18 December 1998.