In Another Hemisphere: State Immunity In Jersey And Elsewhere Since FG Hemisphere Associates LLC

The mere fact of being owned by a sovereign state does not give a Jersey company "sovereign immunity" from legal proceedings. As a result, creditors can sue and enforce against a state-owned company's assets, including strategically important assets (such as oil pipeline companies) to obtain payment. In the Jersey case of FG Hemisphere Associates LLC the Privy Council held that a state's debts could not be enforced against companies owned by that state. In Tepe Insat Sanayii AS v Boru Hatlari Ile Petrol Tasima AS (Botas) [2016] JRC 012A, the Royal Court has now considered the reverse question: can state-owned companies avoid liability by claiming state immunity from legal proceedings? In answering "no", the Court held there are two different types of state immunities: immunity from suit prior to judgment, and immunity from enforcement of a judgment obtained. At the same time, the High Court of Australia separately made the same distinction. Surprisingly, applying this