Publication of new detailed commentary on the State Immunity Act 1978

Associated people

A new book co-authored by the Faculty’s Andrew Dickinson, Professor of the Conflict of Law and Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, offers a comprehensive analysis of the State Immunity Act 1978 – a landmark piece of legislation in the development of the UK’s law on state immunity.

More than 45 years after its adoption, the Act remains the principal source of rules as to the immunities and privileges of foreign States and related persons before the courts of the United Kingdom. Although the legislative text has changed relatively little in that period, the ever-growing body of case law in the UK courts has more clearly defined its contours and limitations, and has clarified its relationship with other rules of municipal and international law. 

The State Immunity Act 1978 is published by Oxford University Press and is co-authored by Professor Dickinson and barrister Alexander Thompson of Twenty Essex chambers, a graduate of Oxford’s Bachelor of Civil Law course. The work provides a detailed commentary on the provisions and operation of the Act in the UK, as well as the surrounding legal framework. Delivering a comprehensive section-by-section analysis, it outlines the context, background and legislative history to the Act. Furthermore, it explores the Act’s relationship to other aspects of domestic law and to international law, including common law, the European Convention on State Immunity, customary international law, human rights instruments, and other international law immunities and conflict of laws rules. 

In examining this remarkable and influential piece of legislation, the work highlights issues that remain controversial and proposes solutions to the doctrinal and practical difficulties that arise when applying its provisions. The commentary provides expert guidance for practitioners and judges faced with questions of state immunity law in the UK and internationally, and will be of great value to academics with an interest in this branch of international law.