Disputes With States

INTRODUCTION

In this increasingly globalised and, in some ways, borderless world, an increasing amount of trade is done with sovereign governments, otherwise known as states or countries.

• What is a country?
• Can you sue a country?
• What can a country do if it is sued?

These questions all relate to the historical notion that a sovereign cannot be sued in the courts of his own country or the courts of a foreign country.

In many countries, the state now can be sued in its own courts. For example, in the UK the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 made it possible to sue the Crown in civil proceedings for the first time.

As far as foreign countries are concerned the rule was that a court should not entertain proceedings against a foreign sovereign in order to protect the dignity and sovereign functions of sovereign states.