Legal Analysis of Sovereign Immunity in the Light of Restrictive and Absolute Immunity

Abstract

Perhaps the most prominent movement in contemporary international law is that from doctrine based on absolute principles to norms responding to functional needs. Such terminology was expressly used to describe the changes instigated when the contemporary legal system began to abandon “absolute” sovereign immunity in favour of a “restricted” immunity. International law has long imposed limits on the exercise by a state of judicial jurisdiction over other states and their instrumentalities. However, in recent decades that immunity has been reconceived and radically curtailed in a significant number of states. This research examines two main approaches to sovereign immunity, absolute sovereign immunity and restrictive sovereign immunity. This is shown in several areas of sovereign immunity such as civil and criminal jurisdiction. This research argues that absolute immunity should be completely removed from notions of sovereign immunity, as it creates hardship, injustices and inequality before the law.