Pending ICJ Case Questions Scope of Foreign Sovereign Immunity Defense

A case pending before the International Court of Justice due to an application by the Federal Republic of Germany against Italy is likely to produce the first decision by an international panel about the existence of a so called barbarism exception to sovereign immunity as a principle of customary international law. The dispute between Germany and Italy about the scope of jurisdictional immunity for sovereigns in foreign courts arose out of suits by victims of German atrocities in World War II in Italy and Greece. Italian courts, including the Corte di Cassazione, Italy’s highest court in civil matters, awarded damages in the lawsuits and declared similar judgments in Greece enforceable in Italy due to a narrow interpretation of the sovereign immunity defense...[more]