London-based Partner Andrew Cannon and London-based Senior Associate Hannah Ambrose have authored an article for Lexis®PSL, discussing the English court’s approach to the service of documents on a state. The full article is presented here, and can also be accessed via our Arbitration blog. Read more

On 13 February 2019, the International Court of Justice dismissed one of the United States’ jurisdictional objections to a claim by Iran, upheld another and deferred a final jurisdictional objection to the merits phase in the case concerning Certain Iranian Assets (Iran v United States). The substantive claim, brought by Iran against the United States, … Read more

The English Court (the “Court“) has dismissed an application by Ukraine to set aside a court order permitting Russian investor, PAO Tatneft, to enforce an arbitral award against Ukraine.  Ukraine argued that it was immune from the Court’s jurisdiction by virtue of the State Immunity Act 1978. The Court found that Ukraine had not waived … Read more

In the recent decision of Certain Underwriters At Lloyds London v Syrian Arab Republic & Ors [2018] EWHC 385 (Comms) the English Commercial Court (the Court) considered the difficulties which may be encountered in trying to serve on a State. The Court also considered whether a state had submitted to the jurisdiction of a foreign … Read more

In two judgments handed down on 18 October 2017, the Supreme Court (the “Court”) has allowed certain employment claims made by foreign nationals employed as domestic workers at the embassies of foreign states and a diplomat’s residence to proceed despite claims of immunity. The judgments consider important aspects of state and diplomatic immunity, the differences … Read more

On 28 August, in advance of the next round of EU-UK talks, the UK Government published three Technical Notes, one of which “provides further information to support the UK’s position published on 13 July in the UK’s position paper on Privileges and Immunities” (the Technical Note). The 13 July Position Paper is discussed in our … Read more

The 'Law on Transparency, Anti-corruption Measures and the Modernisation of the Economy' presented by Michel Sapin, Minister for the Economy and Finance, to the Council of Ministers on 30 March 2016, known as the « Sapin II » law, has finally been approved by the French National Assembly on 8 November 2016, after undergoing two … Read more

The immunity of states and their assets from the reach of national courts is an area of law with considerable practical implications for both private and state owned entities entering into international energy contracts. In this panel discussion, the speakers will address the issue of immunity from a number of perspectives, considering key principles of … Read more