Criticism of the United States’ Practice in Violating Jurisdictional Immunities of States in Light of International Law and the ICJ Judgment of 2012

Majandeh, Mohammad; Hosseiniazad, Seyyed Ali; Rahimkhoei, Elnaz

doi:10.22066/cilamag.2015.15771

Criticism of the United States’ Practice in Violating Jurisdictional Immunities of States in Light of International Law and the ICJ Judgment of 2012

Authors

Mohammad Majandeh

Seyyed Ali Hosseiniazad

Elnaz Rahimkhoei

10.22066/cilamag.2015.15771

Abstract

The United States of America has long violated or reduced the immunity of certain states in a unique manner, an action that is rather unusual in International Law. In this paper, the practice of the US is briefly described and the long-standing customary rule of Immunity will be discussed from the International Law perspective. Then, the US conduct in the context of International legal rules will be assessed. Eventually, with a glance at the ICJ judgment of 2012, the performance of the US will be evaluated in light of the guidelines referred to in that judgment. By comparing the practice of the US with the rules and principles of International Law as well as the ICJ Judgment of 2012, it is observed that this practice, in most cases, is not consistent with International Law and the findings of the ICJ Judgment of 2012.

Keywords

state immunity

Foreign State Immunities Act

ICJ judgment of 2012

Exceptions to the principle of immunity