Jurisdictional immunities of the state: Germany v Italy

In a disappointing judgment for human rights activists, the International Court of Justice (ICJ or ‘Court’) appears to have hammered the final nail in the coffin1 on the possibility that a state can be sued for serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law in the national courts of another state. In its judgment in the Jurisdictional Immunities (Germany v Italy, Greece Intervening) case, the ICJ held that there was no exception for violations of international human rights law or international humanitarian law to the customary international law rule providing for the immunity of a state from the jurisdiction of another state.