Roger O’Keefe and Christian J. Tams, The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property: A Commentary

Abstract

1. This is an article-by-article commentary on the United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, with a comprehensive scope of coverage. The Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2004, after a long period of gestation, and this commentary should serve to promote the wider acceptance of the Convention as a treaty or as a codification of the principles that are applied in practice. 2. The format of an article-by-article commentary, with one chapter for each article, is user-friendly. Within each chapter, a set format is also followed, consisting of four parts: introduction, drafting history, key points and evaluation. This makes the commentary even more user-friendly. 3. The treatment of each article is solid and thoughtful, although some chapters appear to be somewhat thin. The lack of treatment of some issues may have resulted from a reason that is not apparent. For example, the discussion of “act or omission” (p.219) probably could have benefited from some discussion of the “discretionary function exception to the tort exception to immunities”, which has attracted quite an amount of attention in the US, with US legislation on point having undergone more than one amendment, adding exceptions to the discretionary function exception to the tort exception. The literature presents solid discussions covering its wisdom and its application to various areas, including internet hacking, as well as earlier proposals for reform.1 Thus there seems to be a world out there beyond what this commentary has presented, and that world can aid and enrich the interpretation of the Convention.