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09 March 2012 / Khawar Qureshi KC
Issue: 7504 / Categories: Features , Public
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A global view

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Khawar Qureshi QC reports on the recent leading cases involving public international law & the English courts

There has been a surge in public awareness of public international law (PIL) in recent years, as well as a marked increase in the number of cases before domestic courts where PIL issues have been raised. The main factors for this include:

  • Significant activity of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in passing sanctions resolutions directed to alleged terrorist funding and so-called “rogue” states.
  • The invocation of English Court jurisdiction to address matters arising out of the military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • Claims for diplomatic or sovereign/state immunity to prevent the courts from exercising jurisdiction to consider claims, or effect enforcement of judgments or arbitral awards.

In 2011, there were 179 cases identified in the Lawtel database as involving international law. However, most of these concern private international law (conflict of laws) issues. Upon closer examination, around 15 of the cases concerned substantive PIL issues.

In this article, we will consider six cases relating to

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