European Court of Human Rights Delivers Judgment on State Immunity in Jones v. United Kingdom (January 14, 2014) [1]
On January 14, 2014, the Fourth Section of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) issued its judgment [3] in Jones and Others v. United Kingdom. The Court found that the United Kingdom (UK) had not violated the right of access to court under Article 6 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights when UK courts granted immunity to Saudi Arabia and its State officials, thus dismissing the Applicants’ claims for compensation for torture they allegedly suffered at the hands of Saudi Arabian officials. The Court stated that “measures taken by a State which reflect generally recognised rules of public international law on State immunity cannot in principle be regarded as imposing a disproportionate restriction on the right of access to a court as embodied in Article 6 § 1.” However, the Court concluded that “in light of the developments currently under way in this area of public international law, this is a matter which needs to be kept under review”. According to the press release [4], the parties have three months in which to request a referral to the Grand Chamber.