The Jurisdictional Immunities of International Organizations

Abstract

Abstract This chapter focuses on developments in the law of international organization (IO) immunity, focusing on the United States. As international entities, IOs are generally entitled to some measure of immunity from the jurisdiction of domestic courts. Immunity allows IOs to fulfill their missions without interference from the domestic courts of the countries in which they locate and operate. As IOs grew, the domestic and international legal regulation of their activities also expanded. A variety of social harms were increasingly addressed by positive law and resolved through private litigation, both in the United States and around the world. As a consequence of these developments, immunity for IOs today may shield them from more conduct that would otherwise be actionable in court than it did when most treaties and statutes conferring IO immunity were adopted. In addition, the immunity of foreign states has generally become subject to more exceptions during this period, another factor that makes absolute immunity for IOs appear anomalous to some observers, despite the differences between IOs and foreign states. Although IOs generally remain entitled to a high level of immunity in the United States as they do around the world, cases in the United States and elsewhere have begun to indicate ways in which that immunity will be limited going forward. The chapter then suggests that the Fourth Restatement of Foreign Relations Law take up the topic of IO immunity.