CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

METOD ŠPAČEK CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ The Introductory Chapter is thus much more than a mere forward. It gives a valuable outline of the subject of the book and puts the four Chapters into a schematic concept. The aim of the chapter Immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction is to give an in-depth study on the immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, the legal concept that is, in its entirety, covered by customary rules of international law. However, a substantive work has been devoted to this topic recently by the International Law Commission and the issue is well reflected also in international jurisprudence (including case of Pinochet, decided by the House of Lords in 1999, the 2002 ICJ Judgment in the Arrest Warrant Case and the SCSL judgment of 2004 in Taylor case), as well as in state practice. On the historical backdrop, the initial part of the chapter is devoted to the development of this type of immunity, in parallel with an overview of the development of international criminal law. This chapter presents a complex summary of three above-mentioned cases of international (and national) jurisprudence that were important to the development and for clarifying the concept of immunities of foreign officials. The fourth and core part of this Chapter includes a comprehensive evaluation of the ILC’s recent work on the topic of immunities of foreign officials. Undoubtedly, the ILC’s consideration of the matter is essential for understanding of current trends in the development and codification of this legal concept. Since 2007, the consideration of the topic has been led by two special rapporteurs: R. Kolodkin and C. Escobar Hernandéz. The author clearly brings an important insight from the consideration of the topic and demonstrates detailed knowledge of the overall context of the discussion and various arguments presented within the ILC. Focus is given to the different aspects of two forms of immunity – namely immunity ratione personae (personal immunity) and ratione materiae (functional immunity) and how the ILC tackled these two different concepts in drafting the relevant draft articles, and in finding appropriate definitions, including drawing the important distinction between acta jure imperii and acta jure gestionis . An important part of the consideration of the concept of functional immunity is the relevant or existing exceptions from immunity. These are recognized as exceptions: first, the international crime together with giving an outline of several conditions and conceptual reasoning, second, corruption-related crimes, and finally, territorial tort exceptions. The procedural aspects of the immunities of state officials, which are projected for consideration by the ILC in the near future, are not omitted. Finally, the line is drawn that immunity of State officials still plays an important role as a matter of customary international law, and a need to be complemented by limitations and exceptions is recognized. This Chapter is a valuable outline of the legal concept of immunity of State officials and serves as a reflection of the contemporary state-of-play of this immunity with focus on the work of the ILC. The chapter Jurisdictional Immunities of a State applied by national courts deals with the specific legal concept of jurisdictional immunities of States with a focus on the decisions of national courts. In the introductory part of the chapter, the author sets out an objective to look afresh at the issue of state immunities and the development of the concept, following the 2012 ICJ Judgement in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State case. The author begins consideration of the topic by a rather scattered general outline of the concept of immunity,

616