Sentenza 238/2014 of the Italian Constitutional Court and the International Rule of Law
For publication in: Anne Peters/Valentina Volpe (eds), Remedies against Immunity? Reconciling International and Domestic Law after Italian Constitutional Court's Sentenza 238/2014 (2018 Forthcoming)
KFG Working Paper Series, No. 15, Berlin Potsdam Research Group 'The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?'
30 Pages Posted: 10 Jun 2018
Date Written: Mai 2018
Abstract
The German-Italian dispute over the scope of sovereign immunities and claims of reparations for war crimes committed by German armed forces during World War II in Italy is in many ways specific and historically contingent. At the same time, it touches upon a number of fundamental challenges which the international community has to address in the interest of furthering the international rule of law. In this working paper both authors address the question whether the current law of sovereign immunities should be changed or interpreted in a manner as to allow for exceptions from State immunities in cases of grave violations of human rights. While the first part of the paper focusses on the perspective of general international law the second part addresses the question through the lense of European law. Both authors agree that unilateral efforts to push for what many consider a progressive development of international law actually may entail adverse effects for the international rule of law and thus may even contribute to a broader crisis of the international legal order.
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