(ONLINE) State Immunity and Historical Injustices: Analysing Recent Pushes from Domestic Courts

The webinar aims at shedding light on the recent trends that emerged in domestic courts on the interpretation of the customary rule on State Immunity in cases of historical injustices, namely of serious violations of international law perpetrated by States during war or war-like situations that have left victims without an effective remedy.

Since the affirmation of the absolute nature of State immunity by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Germany v. Italy case in 2011, several domestic courts around the world have challenged this interpretation. Examples include the 2020 decision of the District Court of Seoul against Japan in the so called “comfort women” case; the 2021 judgment of the Supreme Court of Brazil that condemned Germany for the killing of fishermen by Nazi officers in 1943 in the “Changri-La” case. These judgments are largely built on the doctrine of limited immunity for delicta imperi put forward by the Italian Supreme Court and further elaborated by the Italian Constitutional Court in the well-known sentenza 238/2014.

The issue is particularly timing considering that, on 29 April 2022, the ICJ has been called by Germany to apply again the immunity rule in a second Germany v Italy case. The pushes of domestic courts for a more balanced and modern interpretation of State immunity might have a bearing on the future ICJ assessment.

The seminar will take place on Zoom, where participants may actively join the debate. The seminar will be recorded and will be live-streamed on our Facebook page. To participate, please register below.