CYIL 2015

THE CZECHǧAUSTRIAN DECLARATION ON JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITIES … has only eight State Parties and the last ratification was by Germany in 1990. 10 So the “momentum” for gaining wider support across the Council of Europe membership is definitely gone. The Czech Republic is not a State party to the European Convention. The second codification attempt was undertaken on the universal level by the UN bodies. The ILC started to work on the Draft Articles on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property in 1978 and adopted them in 1991. 11 After further efforts within the UN General Assembly and subsequent involvement of the ILC, the UN General Assembly established the Ad Hoc Committee on jurisdictional immunities of States and their property, 12 which, under the Chairmanship of Professor Gerhard Hafner from Austria, successfully elaborated a generally acceptable instrument based on these Draft Articles. The General Assembly, fulfilling its role under Art. 13(1)(a) of the UN Charter, 13 then adopted the UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property (hereinafter the “UN Convention”) on 2 December 2004, 14 which was opened for signature at the UN Headquarters in New York on 17 January 2005. 15 As of June 2015 the UN Convention has so far accumulated, according to its depositary, 28 signatories and 18 contracting States, 16 including the Czech Republic. In order to enter into force the UN Convention needs thirty States to deposit the instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 17 Although the UN Convention may not enter into force anytime soon, the number of its contracting States is steadily growing – the last two States that ratified or acceded to the UN Convention are the Czech Republic and Liechtenstein in 2015, while other countries may follow suit (Slovakia has already launched its internal ratification process). Finally, it should be pointed out that this treaty is the last instrument that was transformed from the ILC draft articles into a “proper” UN Convention. Since that time, there has been very little demand of States for new conventions codifying and developing rules in other areas of international law (this is the case, e.g., of the Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts). 10 See the website of the Council of Europe at: http://conventions.coe.int, CETS No. 074, the State Parties of the European Convention of State Immunity are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 11 Report of the International Law Commission, 43rd session, 1991, UN Doc. A/46/10, pp. 8 et seq . 12 The UNGA Resolution No. 55/150, adopted on 12 December 2000, UN Doc. A/RES/55/150. 13 Art. 13(1)(a) of theUNCharter: “TheGeneral Assembly shall initiate studies andmake recommendations for the purpose of promoting international co-operation and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification.” 14 The UNGA Resolution No. 59/38, adopted on 2 December 2004, UN Doc. A/RES/59/38. 15 Id. , Art. 28 and 33 of the UN Convention. 16 The database of the UN Treaty Office, available at: http://www.treaties.un.org , the contracting States of the UN Convention are: Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. 17 See Art. 30 of the UN Convention.

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