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STATE IMMUNITY IN JURISPRUDENCE OF CZECH COURTS
The Czech judicial practice is presented here through the prism of three
leading cases of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic.
6
Since late 2000’s, the
Supreme Court of the Czech Republic has developed and enforced the restrictive
doctrine of State immunity, granting jurisdictional immunity to foreign States
only in cases involving sovereign acts (
acta jure imperii
), in accordance with the
general international standard. Yet, the reasoning espoused in the Supreme Court’s
rulings is quite intriguing, particularly when read against the jurisprudence of other
domestic and international courts as well as the general international law doctrine
of immunities. In this respect the paper compares the Czech judicial decisions with
(i) practice in other jurisdictions; (ii) the recent judgment of the International Court
of Justice (the “ICJ”) in the case of
Jurisdictional Immunities of the State
(Germany
v. Italy),
7
which significantly intervened in this area of international law; and (iii)
the two international treaties dealing with immunities of States, the 2004 United
Nations Convention on the Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property
(the “UN Convention”),
8
and the 1972 European Convention on State Immunity
(the “European Convention”).
9
2. The Leading Cases
2.1 The Polish Embassy Driver Case
The first State immunity case after the fall of communism came to the Supreme
Court of the Czech Republic in 2008.
10
On the facts, the Embassy of the Polish
Republic in Prague gave a notice of employment termination to its driver, at that time
a dual Czech-Polish national. The driver challenged the validity of the employment
termination and sued the Polish Republic in Czech courts. The Polish Republic
asserted immunity, and the court of first instance agreed that the Polish Republic
enjoyed immunity from the civil jurisdiction of Czech courts and accordingly
discontinued the proceeding;
11
the appellate court affirmed.
12
Both courts reasoned
that Czech courts would only have jurisdiction with the specific consent of the Polish
6
Although the doctrine of precedent formally does not exist in Czech law, the significance of judicial
decisions for interpretation and application of law is in practice substantial.
7
Jurisdictional Immunities of the State
(Germany v. Italy), International Court of Justice, Judgment of
2 February 2012.
8
United Nations Convention on the Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, G.A. Res.
59/38, Annex, U.N. Doc. A/RES/59/38 (2 December, 2004). The Czech Republic signed the UN
Convention on 13 October 2006 and the ratification process is currently actively ongoing.
See
Section
3.6 below.
9
European Convention on State Immunity, CETS No. 074 (16 May 1972). The Czech Republic is not
a signatory to the European Convention.
10
Ruling (in Czech:
usnesení
) of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic dated 25 June 2008, case
No. 21 Cdo 2215/2007. An English-language report of the case, prepared by the present author, was
published in 142 ILR 206. For ease of reference, the case is referred to in this text as the “Polish
Embassy Drive Case”.
11
Ruling of the District Court for Prague 1 dated 10 July 2006, No. 23 C 13/2005-26.
12
Ruling of the Municipal Court in Prague dated 4 December 2006, No. 19 Co 477/2006-41.