CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ IMMUNITIES OF STATES AND THEIR OFFICIALS IN CONTEMPORARY LAW Pavel Šturma, Katarína Chovancová, Katarína Šmigová, Jaroslav Větrovský

Immunities of States and their Officials in Contemporary Law

rw&w Science & New Media, Passau-Berlin-Prague, 2017, 157 p.

[Imunita států a jejich úředníků v současném mezinárodním právu]

The newest publication devoted to Immunities in international law published by an international publishing project rw&w Science & New Media Passau-Berlin-Prague entitled “ Immunities of States and Their Officials in Contemporary International Law ” brings to readers from international legal theory and practice a valuable compendium of four separate papers dealing with selected aspects of state immunities. It can be stressed that the subject of each paper was chosen carefully in a systemic approach to allow for in-depth focus on immunities based on customary international law, which have not been so far subject to extensive legal research, especially in the Central-European context. The Introductory Chapter comprises a clear indication and argumentation of the overall concept of the publication. Its main focus is on the legal concept of immunities as an exemption of a State or certain person in relation to the State from the jurisdiction of another State. The introductory part explains the reasons for exclusion of the concept of diplomatic and consular immunities, together with immunities of international organizations, from the scope of the publication, thus leaving the focus on the main subject that is solely within the regulation of customary international law. From the perspective of legal theory, as well as international legal practice, this is the part (as the authors put it: non-covered areas of immunities) that requires strengthened interest of study due to its regular application in state practice and the little availability of relevant sources, including jurisprudence, and, last but not least, it is even subject to many controversies, as is eventually clearly present throughout the publication. The introductory part contains an opening description of the legal concept of immunity in international law, including its historical background, which is useful; however, it might be too rudimentary for a publication of a highly expert character containing four studies on detailed aspects of immunities of States and State officials. The concept of the publication is based on four main “contradictions” of (legal) interests: 1. state sovereignty v. interest of foreign investors; 2. immunity v. human rights; 3. procedural nature of immunity v. substantive rules of international law; 4. immunity in international law v. application in domestic legal system. Selection of these four areas of contradiction, or legal conflicts, fits to the contemporary range of expert debates that legal theory and practice face nowadays. It is just natural that four Chapters of the book, written by four different international law experts, mirror the four-fold overall subject of the book. Focusing on each author’s expertise allowed for an in-depth study of each of these contradictions and gives the publication its value together with an important comparative advantage.

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