Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
1 Contributions by Sudhanshu Swaroop
PRACTICE NOTES
Arbitration-related proceedings against states in England and Wales: State Immunity Act 1978 exceptions, enforcement, execution, injunctions, separate entities and service
State immunity from civil proceedings in the courts of the UK
This Practice Note considers state immunity in civil claims before UK courts, with a focus on matters linked to arbitration. The default position (subject to exceptions) is that states are not amenable to the jurisdiction of the UK courts. As a result, questions of state immunity may surface where a party issues a court application against a state to:
challenge or appeal an arbitral award
enforce an award, or
seek an injunction in support of an arbitration
The principal statutory regime is the State Immunity Act 1978 (SIA 1978). This Practice Note summarises the SIA 1978 and sets out how it has been applied to court proceedings connected with arbitration. Although the SIA 1978 applies across the UK (including Northern Ireland), the authorities cited in this Practice Note are drawn from the courts of England and Wales. The Practice Note uses ‘England’ and ‘English’ as a convenient shorthand.
Consistent with the taxonomy of the SIA 1978, the term ‘state immunity’ is adopted; however, practitioners should note that ‘sovereign immunity’ is sometimes used to describe the same concept. For an introduction to state immunity...
Arbitration
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