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WHEN THE SUIT DOESN’T SUIT THEM: JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITIES OF STATES…
WHEN THE SUIT DOESN’T SUIT THEM:
JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITIES OF STATES
IN THE CONTEXT OF EU LAW
Emil Ruffer
1
Abstract:
The aim of this article is to analyse to what extent the concept of
jurisdictional immunity of States is acknowledged in the context of European
Union law and in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU. The article
first looks at the concept of jurisdictional immunity and its recent developments
under international law, and then it deals with the structural relationship between
international law and EU law (i.e. to what extent is the EU obliged to respect the
principles of international law). Finally, it analyses specific Court of Justice cases
where the jurisdictional immunity of States was raised and evaluates whether there
are any actual or potential conflicts between the international law and EU law
approaches to jurisdictional immunity.
Resumé:
Cílem tohoto článku je prozkoumat, do jaké míry je koncept juris-
dikčních imunit států uznáván v rámci práva Evropské unie a v judikatuře Soud-
ního dvora EU. Článek se nejprve zabývá konceptem jurisdikčních imunit a jeho
nedávným vývojem v mezinárodním právu a poté se věnuje strukturálnímu vztahu
mezi mezinárodním a unijním právem (tj. do jaké míry je EU vázána dodržovat
principy mezinárodního práva). Nakonec jsou analyzovány jednotlivé případy před
Soudním dvorem, v nichž byly jurisdikční imunity států namítány, a je hodnoceno,
zda dochází ke skutečným nebo potenciálním konfliktům mezi přístupem meziná-
rodního práva a práva EU k jurisdikčním imunitám států.
Key words:
Jurisdictional immunity of States, European Union, Court of Justice
of the European Union, international law, customary law, International Court of
Justice, European Court of Human Rights, relative (restrictive) immunity, EU legal
order, principle of primacy, right to an effective judicial remedy.
On the Author:
Emil Ruffer was born in Prague in 1974. He graduated from the
Charles University Faculty of Law in 2001. He also read English and American
Literature at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University. From 1996 to 1997 he studied
European Law and Politics at Cardiff Law School under the Tempus (PHARE)
programme; for the academic year 2000-2001 he received a Sasakawa Young
Leaders Fellowship for studies of European and International Public Law at
Humboldt University in Berlin. He has been working in the EU Law Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic since 2003 and became its
1
The author is the Director of the EU Law Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech
Republic (MFA). However, the opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and
do not necessarily correspond with the official position of the MFA and do not bind this institution in
any way.