header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

State immunity in arbitration

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
24 January 2025 / Neil Newing , Pietro Grassi
Issue: 8101 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Arbitration , International
printer mail-detail
204786
The court has confirmed that states cannot rely on arguments of immunity to oppose the registration of ICSID awards: Neil Newing & Pietro Grassi examine the wider message for contracting states
  • Last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that foreign states do not enjoy immunity from the registration of ICSID awards in the English courts.
  • This decision once again demonstrates the English court’s favourable approach to arbitration and its desire to preserve the finality and effectiveness of arbitral awards.

In the combined cases of Infrastructure Services Luxembourg SARL and another v Kingdom of Spain; Border Timbers Limited and another v Republic of Zimbabwe [2024] EWCA Civ 1257, the Court of Appeal heard two cases involving challenges by the defendant states to the registration in the English courts of awards rendered against them in International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitrations.

The challenges were brought on the basis of state immunity, but the court held that, pursuant to the 1965 Convention on the Settlement of

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
NLJ this week: Trans pool player loses discrimination fight
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Small firms call for tech clarity as AI looms
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll