Professor Alexander Orakhelashvili writes for the BLS blog on the Supreme Court’s approach to sources of international law in relation to State immunity claims.
The Supreme Court’s decision on Shehabi v Bahrain, delivered after eight months have passed since hearings before the Supreme Court took place, was no doubt expected with great interest by parties as well as legal professionals dealing with this area of law. The Court has dismissed, with three votes to two, Bahrain’s appeal that it had immunity in the UK for allegations that persons acting on behalf of Bahrain hacked or infected their computers with a spyware programme. The Judgment focuses on the territorial tort exception under section 5 of the 1978 State Immunity Act (SIA), discussed in particular context of its relation to the 1972 European Convention on State Immunity (ECSI) as well as customary international law.
Professor of International Law
Profile of Birmingham Law School academic, Dr Alexander Orakhelashvili, Professor of International Law
