Diplomatic Immunity, Head of State Immunity, State Immunity: Misconceptions of a Notorious Human Rights Violator

Leiden Journal of International Law

Volumn 12, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 361-371

  Bröhmer, Jürgen ^a  

^a SAARLAND UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

Author keywords

diplomatic immunity; head of state immunity; human rights violations; state immunity

Indexed keywords

EID: 84920450869     PISSN: 09221565     EISSN: 14789698     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0922156599000151     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, 17 December 1979, entry into force on 3 June 1983, 1316 UNTS 205, currently 83 parties among them Chile and the United Kingdom.
2. European Convention on State Immunity and Additional Protocol, 16 May 1972, 11 ILM 470 (1972), in force since II June 1976 and ratified inter alia by The Netherlands, Great Britain, and Germany.
3. See J. Bröhmer, State Immunity and the Violation of Human Rights 121–125 (1997) with further references.
4. Diplomatic immunity was at issue in a prominent case before the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany recently, where the Court had to decide on the admissibility of an arrest warrant for the former Syrian ambassador to East Oennany who was sought for his involvement in a terrorist bombing in former West-Berlin, see BVerfGE 96, 68 et seq.; case note by B. Fassbender, S. v. Berlin Court of Appeal and District Court, 92. See also K. Doehring & G. Ress, Diplomatische Immunitiit und Drittstaaten - Uberlegungen zur erga omnes-Wirkung der diplomatischen Immunitiit und deren Beachtung;m Faile der Staatensukzession, 37 Archiv des Volkerrechts (1999) (not yet published).
5. See O. Kimminich, Das Staatsoberhaupt im Volkerrecht, 26 Archiv des Volkerrechts 129, at 159 et seq. (1988).
6. On state immunity in general see, e.g. H. Steinberger, State immunity, in R. Bernhardt, Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Instalment to, at p. 428 et seq. (1988);
7. C. Schreuer, State Immunity: Some Recent Developments (1988);
8. J.W. Dellapenna, Suing Foreign Governments and Their Corporations (1988);
9. N. Vivekananthan, The Doctrine a/State Immunity & Human Rights Violations 0/Foreign States, 8 Sri Lanka Journal of International Law 125 (1996).
10. See e.g. Letelier v. Republic of Chile, 63 ILM 378 (1982),
11. see also the final settlement reached by a bilateral dispute settlement Commission, Re Letelier and Moffitt, 88 ILR 727 (1992),
12. Von Dardel v. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 77 ILM 258 (1988);
13. Nelson v. Saudi Arabia, 30 ILM 1171 (1991),
14. rev'd Saudi Arabia, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Royspec v. Nelson, 13, S.Ct. 1471;
15. Sidennan de Blake v. Republic of Argentina, 965 F.2d 699 (9th Cir. 1992); and
16. Hugo Princz v. Federal Republic of Germany, 33 ILM 1483 (1994).
17. Al Adsani v. Government of Kuwait, 107 ILR 536.
18. J. Kokott, Mißbrauch und Verwirkung von Souverdnitdtsrechten bei gravierenden Vökerrechtsverstößen, in U. Beyerlin et al. (Ed.), Recht zwischen Umbruch und Bewahrung, Festschrift flir Rudolf Bernhardt 135, at 148 et seq. (1995).
19. M. Reimann, A Human Rights Exception to Sovereign Immunity: Some Thoughts on Princz v. Federal Republic of Germany, 16 Michigan Journal of International Law 403 (1995).
20. On recent developments in the field of state immunity see also G. Ress, The Changing Relationship Between State Immunity and Human Rights, in M. de Sakvia & M.E. Villiger, The Birth of European Human Rights Law, Liber Amicorum Carl Aage Norgaard 175 et seq. (1998);
21. see 38 ILM 759 (1997).
22. On the 1978 UK State Immunity Act see D. Hockl, The State immunity Act 1978 and its Interpretation by the English Courts, 48 Austrian Journal of Public and International Law 121 (1995).
23. See C.J. Lewis, State and Diplomatic Immunity 129 (1990).
24. See F.O. Vicuna, Diplomatic and Consular immunities and Human Rights, 40 ICLQ 34, at 39 (1991).
25. See the opinion of Lord Slynn of Hadley for a survey of English materials; see also G. Dahm, J. Delbrück & R. Wolfrum, 1 Volkerrecht 254 (1989).
26. K. Ipsen, Volkerrecht 344–345 (1990); and
27. See C.E. Hickey, The Dictator, Drugs and Diplomacy by Indictment: Head of State Immunity in United States v. Noriega, 4 Connecticut Journal of International Law 729, at 752 (1989).
28. Hilao v. Marcos, 25 F. 3d 1467 (1994).
29. E.g. A. Watts, The Legal Position in international Law of Heads of States, Heads of Governments and Foreign Ministers, 247 RDC 89 (1994).