Clifford Chance
Australian High Court gives guidance on sovereign immunity for foreign State owned entities
12 September 2012
Foreign States enjoy immunity in Australia from the civil jurisdiction of the Australian courts and from enforcement over their assets based in Australia. This immunity is also extended to “separate entities” of foreign States.
However, the immunity from jurisdiction is subject to certain exceptions. In particular, foreign States and separate entities will not have immunity from jurisdiction if the proceeding “concerns a commercial transaction”.
Recent decisions of the Full Federal Court and Australian High Court provide welcome clarity to the question of when an entity of a foreign State will be protected by immunity from civil proceedings in Australian courts, and the scope of the “commercial transaction” exception to foreign State immunity.
