State Immunity (Jersey) Order 1985
Jersey Order in Council 5/1986
THE STATE IMMUNITY (JERSEY) ORDER,
1985
___________
(Registered on the 25th day of April, 1986)
___________
At the Court of Saint James
___________
30th October, 1985
___________
PRESENT
The Counsellors of State in Council
___________
WHEREAS HER MAJESTY, in pursuance of the Regency Acts
1937 to 1953, was pleased, by Letters Patent dated the 27th day of September
1985, to delegate to the six Counsellors of State therein named or any two or
more of them full power and authority during the period of Her Majesty’s
absence from the United Kingdom to summon and hold on Her Majesty’s
behalf Her Privy Council and to signify thereat Her Majesty’s approval
for anything for which Her Majesty’s approval in Council is required.
NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth the Queen Mother and His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, being authorised thereto by the said Letters Patent, and in
exercise of the powers conferred by section 23(7) of the State Immunity Act 1978
by and with the advice of Her Majesty’s Privy Council, do on Her
Majesty’s behalf order, and it is hereby ordered as follows –
1. This
Order may be cited as the State Immunity (Jersey) Order 1985 and shall come into
operation on 21st November,
1985.
2. In
this Order, “the Bailiwick” means the Bailiwick of Jersey and the
territorial waters adjacent thereto.
3. The
provisions of the State
Immunity Act 1978 shall extend to the Bailiwick with the
modifications specified in the Schedule to this Order.
G.I. de DENEY
Clerk of the Privy Council
SCHEDULE
(Article 3)
Modifications in the Extension of the State Immunity Act 1978
to the Bailiwick of Jersey
1.-(1) Except in
sections 2(7), 4(2)(b) and (5), 8(1)(b), 13(5), 14(1), 15(1) and 19(2) and (4),
or where an express modification is made, any reference to the United Kingdom
shall be construed as a reference to the Bailiwick.
(2) Any reference
to an enactment shall be construed, unless the contrary appears, as a reference
to it as it has effect in the Bailiwick.
2. In
section 4(2)(b), for the word “there” there shall be substituted
the words “in the Bailiwick”.
3. In
section 8(1)(b), after the words “United Kingdom”, in both
places where they occur, there shall be inserted the words “or the
Bailiwick”.
4. Section
13(6) shall be omitted.
5. After
section 14(5) there shall be inserted the following subsection –
“(5A) Any Order in
Council made under subsection (5) above shall have effect in the Bailiwick as
it has effect in the United
Kingdom if registered in the Royal Court of
Jersey and from the date of such registration.”.
6. For
section 15(2) there shall be substituted the following subsection –
“(2) Where
an Order in Council made under this section –
(a) restricts the
immunities and privileges conferred by this Part of this Act; or
(b) extends the immunities
and privileges conferred by this Part of this Act so as to comply with the
requirements of any treaty, convention or other international agreement to
which the United Kingdom is a party on behalf of the Bailiwick (as well as on
its own behalf),
that Order shall have effect in the Bailiwick as it has effect in
the United Kingdom
if registered in the Royal Court of Jersey and from the date of such
registration.”.
7. In
section 16 –
(a) the following
provision shall be substituted for subsection (1) –
“(1) This
Part of this Act does not affect any immunity or privilege customarily granted
to members of a mission within the meaning of the Vienna Convention on
Diplomatic Relations signed in 1961 or members of a consular post within the
meaning of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations signed in 1963; and
(a) section 4
above does not apply to proceedings concerning the employment of the members of
such a mission or consular post;
(b) section 6(1)
above does not apply to proceedings concerning a State’s title to or its
possession of property used for the purposes of a diplomatic mission.”;
and
(b) in subsection
(2), the words “and, in particular, has effect subject to the Visiting Forces Act 1952”
shall be omitted.
8. In
section 17, subsections (3), (4) and (5) shall be omitted.
9. Section
20 shall be omitted.
10. In
section 22 –
(a) in subsection
(1), the words from “and reference to” to the end of the subsection
shall be omitted; and
(b) subsection (5)
shall be omitted.
11. In
section 23 –
(a) subsections
(2), (5), (6), and (7) shall be omitted; and
(b) the references
in subsections (3) and (4) to the coming into force of this Act shall be
construed as references to the date of the coming into operation of the State Immunity (Jersey)
Order 1985.
STATE IMMUNITY ACT 1978
CHAPTER 33
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ARRANGEMENT
OF SECTIONS
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PART
I
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PROCEEDINGS
IN UNITED KINGDOM
BY OR AGAINST OTHER STATES
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Section
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Immunity from jurisdiction
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1.
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General immunity from jurisdiction.
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Exceptions from immunity
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2.
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Submission to
jurisdiction.
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3.
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Commercial transactions and contracts to
be performed in United
Kingdom.
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4.
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Contracts of employment.
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5.
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Personal injuries and damage to property.
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6.
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Ownership, possession and use of
property.
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7.
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Patents, trade-marks etc.
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8.
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Membership of bodies corporate etc.
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9.
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Arbitrations.
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10.
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Ships used for commercial purposes.
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11.
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Value added
tax, customs duties etc.
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Procedure
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12.
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Service of
process and judgments in default of appearance.
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13.
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Other
procedural privileges.
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Supplementary provisions
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14.
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States entitled
to immunities and privileges.
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15.
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Restriction and extension of immunities
and privileges.
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16.
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Excluded matters.
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17.
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Interpretation of Part I.
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PART II
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JUDGMENTS
AGAINST UNITED KINGDOM
IN CONVENTION STATES
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18.
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Recognition of
judgments against United
Kingdom.
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19.
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Exceptions to
recognition.
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PART III
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MISCELLANEOUS
AND SUPPLEMENTARY
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20.
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Heads of State.
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21.
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Evidence by certificate.
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22.
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General interpretation.
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23.
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Short title, repeals, commencement and
extent.
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ELIZABETH II
1978 CHAPTER 33
AN ACT to make new provision with respect
to proceedings in the United Kingdom by or against other States; to provide for
the effect of judgments given against the United Kingdom in the courts of States
parties to the European Convention on State Immunity; to make new provision
with respect to the immunities and privileges of heads of State; and for
connected purposes.
(20th July, 1978)
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most
Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows –
PART I
PROCEEDINGS IN UNITED KINGDOM BY OR AGAINST OTHER
STATES
Immunity from jurisdiction
1.-(1) A State is immune from the jurisdiction
of the courts of the United
Kingdom except as provided in the following
provisions of this Part of this Act.
(2) A court shall
give effect to the immunity conferred by this section even though the State
does not appear in the proceedings in question.
Exceptions from immunity
2.-(1) A State is not immune as respects
proceedings in respect of which it has submitted to the jurisdiction of the
courts of the United Kingdom.
(2) A State may
submit after the dispute giving rise to the proceedings has arisen or by a
prior written agreement; but a provision in any agreement that it is to be
governed by the law of the United
Kingdom is not to be regarded as a
submission.
(3) A State is
deemed to have submitted –
(a) if it has
instituted the proceedings; or
(b) subject to
subsections (4) and (5) below, if it has intervened or taken any step in the
proceedings.
(4) Subsection
(3)(b) above does not apply to intervention or any step taken for the purpose
only of –
(a) claiming
immunity; or
(b) asserting an
interest in property in circumstances such that the State would have been
entitled to immunity if the proceedings had been brought against it.
(5) Subsection
(3)(b) above does not apply to any step taken by the State in ignorance of
facts entitling it to immunity if those facts could not reasonably have been
ascertained and immunity is claimed as soon as reasonably practicable.
(6) A submission
in respect of any proceedings extends to any appeal but not to any
counter-claim unless it arises out of the same legal relationship or facts as
the claim.
(7) The head of a
State’s diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom, or the person for the
time being performing his functions, shall be deemed to have authority to
submit on behalf of the State in respect of any proceedings; and any person who
has entered into a contract on behalf of and with the authority of a State
shall be deemed to have authority to submit on its behalf in respect of
proceedings arising out of the contract.
3.-(1) A State is not immune as respects
proceedings relating to –
(a) a commercial
transaction entered into by the State; or
(b) an obligation
of the State which by virtue of a contract (whether a commercial transaction or
not) falls to be performed wholly or partly in the United Kingdom.
(2) This section
does not apply if the parties to the dispute are States or have otherwise
agreed in writing; and subsection (1)(b) above does not apply if the contract
(not being a commercial transaction) was made in the territory of the State
concerned and the obligation in question is governed by its administrative law.
(3) In this
section “commercial transaction” means –
(a) any contract
for the supply of goods or services;
(b) any loan or
other transaction for the provision of finance and any guarantee or indemnity
in respect of any such transaction or of any other financial obligation; and
(c) any other
transaction or activity (whether of a commercial, industrial, financial,
professional or other similar character) into which a State enters or in which
it engages otherwise than in the exercise of sovereign authority;
but neither paragraph of subsection (1) above applies to a contract
of employment between a State and an individual.
4.-(1) A State is not immune as respects
proceedings relating to a contract of employment between the State and an
individual where the contract was made in the United Kingdom or the work is to be
wholly or partly performed there.
(2) Subject to subsections
(3) and (4) below, this section does not apply if –
(a) at the time
when the proceedings are brought the individual is a national of the State
concerned; or
(b) at the time
when the contract was made the individual was neither a national of the United Kingdom
nor habitually resident [in the
Bailiwick]; or
(c) the parties to
the contract have otherwise agreed in writing.
(3) Where the work
is for an office, agency or establishment maintained by the State in the United
Kingdom for commercial purposes, subsection (2)(a) and (b) above do not exclude
the application of this section unless the individual was, at the time when the
contract was made, habitually resident in that State.
(4) Subsection
(2)(c) above does not exclude the application of this section where the law of
the United Kingdom requires
the proceedings to be brought before a court of the United Kingdom.
(5) In subsection
(2)(b) above “national of the United Kingdom” means a citizen of
the United Kingdom and Colonies, a person who is a British subject by virtue of
section 2, 13 or 16 of the British Nationality Act 1948 or by virtue of the British Nationality Act
1965, a British protected person within the meaning of the said
Act of 1948 or a citizen of Southern Rhodesia.
(6) In this
section “proceedings relating to a contract of employment” includes
proceedings between the parties to such a contract in respect of any statutory
rights or duties to which they are entitled or subject as employer or employee.
5. A
State is not immune as respects proceedings in respect of –
(a) death or
personal injury; or
(b) damage to or
loss of tangible property,
caused by an act or omission in the United Kingdom.
6.-(1) A State is not immune as respects
proceedings relating to –
(a) any interest
of the State in, or its possession or use of, immovable property in the United Kingdom;
or
(b) any obligation
of the State arising out of its interests in, or its possession or use of, any
such property.
(2) A State is not
immune as respects proceedings relating to any interest of the State in movable
or immovable property, being an interest arising by way of succession, gift or
bona vacantia.
(3) The fact that
a State has or claims an interest in any property shall not preclude any court
from exercising in respect of it any jurisdiction relating to the estates of
deceased persons or persons of unsound mind or to insolvency, the winding up of
companies or the administration of trusts.
(4) A court may
entertain proceedings against a person other than a State notwithstanding that
the proceedings relate to property –
(a) which is in
the possession or control of a State; or
(b) in which a
State claims an interest,
if the State would not have been immune had the proceedings been
brought against it or, in a case within paragraph (b) above, if the claim
is neither admitted nor supported by prima facie evidence.
7. A
State is not immune as respects proceedings relating to –
(a) any patent,
trade-mark, design or plant breeders’ rights belonging to the State and
registered or protected in the United Kingdom or for which the State has
applied in the United Kingdom;
(b) an alleged
infringement by the State in the United Kingdom of any patent, trade-mark,
design, plant breeders’ rights or copyright; or
(c) the right to
use a trade or business name in the United Kingdom.
8.-(1) A State is not immune as respects
proceedings relating to its membership of a body corporate, an unincorporated
body or a partnership which –
(a) has members
other than States; and
(b) is
incorporated or constituted under the law of the United
Kingdom [ or
the Bailiwick ] or is controlled from
or has its principal place of business in the United Kingdom [ or the Bailiwick ],
being proceedings arising between the State and the body or its
other members or, as the case may be, between the State and the other partners.
(2) This section
does not apply if provision to the contrary has been made by an agreement in
writing between the parties to the dispute or by the constitution or other
instrument establishing or regulating the body or partnership in question.
9.-(1) Where a State has agreed in writing to
submit a dispute which has arisen, or may arise, to arbitration, the State is
not immune as respects proceedings in the courts of the United Kingdom
which relate to the arbitration.
(2) This section
has effect subject to any contrary provision in the arbitration agreement and
does not apply to any arbitration agreement between States.
10.-(1) This section applies to –
(a) Admiralty
proceedings; and
(b) proceedings on
any claim which could be made the subject of Admiralty proceedings.
(2) A State is not
immune as respects –
(a) an action in
rem against a ship belonging to that State; or
(b) an action in personam for enforcing a claim in connexion
with such a ship,
if, at the time when the cause of action arose, the ship was in use
or intended for use for commercial purposes.
(3) Where an
action in rem is brought against a ship belonging to a State for enforcing a
claim in connexion with another ship belonging to
that State, subsection (2)(a) above does not apply as respects the
first-mentioned ship unless, at the time when the cause of action relating to
the other ship arose, both ships were in use or intended for use for commercial
purposes.
(4) A State is not
immune as respects –
(a) an action in
rem against a cargo belonging to that State if both the cargo and the ship
carrying it were, at the time when the cause of action arose, in use or
intended for use for commercial purposes; or
(b) an action in personam for enforcing a claim in connexion
with such a cargo if the ship carrying it was then in use or intended for use
as aforesaid.
(5) In the
foregoing provisions references to a ship or cargo belonging to a State include
references to a ship or cargo in its possession or control or in which it
claims an interest; and, subject to subsection (4) above, subsection (2) above
applies to property other than a ship as it applies to a ship.
(6) Sections 3 to
5 above do not apply to proceedings of the kind described in subsection (1)
above if the State in question is a party to the Brussels Convention and the
claim relates to the operation of a ship owned or operated by that State, the
carriage of cargo or passengers on any such ship or the carriage of cargo owned
by that State on any other ship.
11. A State is
not immune as respects proceedings relating to its liability for –
(a) value added
tax, any duty of customs or excise or any agricultural levy; or
(b) rates in
respect of premises occupied by it for commercial purposes.
Procedure
12.-(1) Any writ or other document required to
be served for instituting proceedings against a State shall be served by being
transmitted through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the State and service shall be deemed to have been effected
when the writ or document is received at the Ministry.
(2) Any time for
entering an appearance (whether prescribed by rules of court or otherwise)
shall begin to run two months after the date on which the writ or document is received
as aforesaid.
(3) A State which
appears in proceedings cannot thereafter object that subsection (1) above has
not been complied with in the case of those proceedings.
(4) No judgment in
default of appearance shall be given against a State except on proof that
subsection (1) above has been complied with and that the time for entering an
appearance as extended by subsection (2) above has expired.
(5) A copy of any
judgment given against a State in default of appearance shall be transmitted
through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of that State and any time for applying to have the judgment set aside (whether
prescribed by rules of court or otherwise) shall begin to run two months after
the date on which the copy of the judgment is received at the Ministry.
(6) Subsection (1)
above does not prevent the service of a writ or other document in any manner to
which the State has agreed and subsections (2) and (4) above do not apply where
service is effected in any such manner.
(7) This section
shall not be construed as applying to proceedings against a State by way of
counter-claim or to an action in rem; and subsection (1) above shall not be
construed as affecting any rules of court whereby leave is required for the
service of process outside the jurisdiction.
13.-(1) No penalty by way of committal or fine
shall be imposed in respect of any failure or refusal by or on behalf of a
State to disclose or produce any document or other information for the purposes
of proceedings to which it is a party.
(2) Subject to
subsections (3) and (4) below –
(a) relief shall
not be given against a State by way of injunction or order for specific
performance or for the recovery of land or other property; and
(b) the property
of a State shall not be subject to any process for the enforcement of a
judgment or arbitration award or, in an action in rem, for its arrest,
detention or sale.
(3) Subsection (2)
above does not prevent the giving of any relief or the issue of any process
with the written consent of the State concerned; and any such consent (which
may be contained in a prior agreement) may be expressed so as to apply to a
limited extent or generally; but a provision merely submitting to the
jurisdiction of the courts is not to be regarded as a consent for the purposes
of this subsection.
(4) Subsection
(2)(b) above does not prevent the issue of any process in respect of property
which is for the time being in use or intended for use for commercial purposes;
but, in a case not falling within section 10 above, this subsection applies to
property of a State party to the European Convention on State Immunity only if
–
(a) the process is
for enforcing a judgment which is final within the meaning of section 18(1)(b)
below and the State has made a declaration under Article 24 of the
Convention; or
(b) the process is
for enforcing an arbitration award.
(5) The head of a
State’s diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom, or the person for the
time being performing his functions, shall be deemed to have authority to give
on behalf of the State any such consent as is mentioned in subsection (3) above
and, for the purposes of subsection (4) above, his certificate to the effect
that any property is not in use or intended for use by or on behalf of the State
for commercial purposes shall be accepted as sufficient evidence of that fact
unless the contrary is proved.
(6) *
* * * * * *
Supplementary provisions
14.-(1) The immunities and privileges conferred
by this Part of this Act apply to any foreign or commonwealth State other than
the United Kingdom;
and references to a State include references to –
(a) the sovereign
or other head of that State in his public capacity;
(b) the government
of that State; and
(c) any department
of that government,
but not to any entity (hereafter referred to as a “separate
entity”) which is distinct from the executive organs of the government of
the State and capable of suing or being sued.
(2) A separate
entity is immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United Kingdom
if, and only if –
(a) the
proceedings relate to anything done by it in the exercise of sovereign
authority; and
(b) the
circumstances are such that a State (or, in the case of proceedings to which
section 10 above applies, a State which is not a party to the Brussels
Convention) would have been so immune.
(3) If a separate
entity (not being a State’s central bank or other monetary authority)
submits to the jurisdiction in respect of proceedings in the case of which it
is entitled to immunity by virtue of subsection (2) above, subsections (1) to
(4) of section 13 above shall apply to it in respect of those proceedings as if
references to a State were references to that entity.
(4) Property of a
State’s central bank or other monetary authority shall not be regarded
for the purposes of subsection (4) of section 13 above as in use or intended
for use for commercial purposes; and where any such bank or authority is a
separate entity subsections (1) to (3) of that section shall apply to it as if
references to a State were references to the bank or authority.
(5) Section 12
above applies to proceedings against the constituent territories of a federal
State; and Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide for the other provisions
of this Part of this Act to apply to any such constituent territory specified
in the Order as they apply to a State.
[(5A) Any
Order in Council made under subsection (5) above shall have effect in the
Bailiwick as it has effect in the United Kingdom if registered in the
Royal Court of Jersey and from the date of such registration.]
(6) Where the
provisions of this Part of this Act do not apply to a constituent territory by
virtue of any such Order subsections (2) and (3) above shall apply to it as if
it were a separate entity.
15.-(1) If it appears to Her Majesty that the
immunities and privileges conferred by this Part of this Act in relation to any
State –
(a) exceed those
accorded by the law of that State in relation to the United Kingdom; or
(b) are less than
those required by any treaty, convention or other international agreement to
which that State and the United
Kingdom are parties,
Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide for restricting or, as
the case may be, extending those immunities and privileges to such extent as
appear to Her Majesty to be appropriate.
[(2) Where an Order in
Council made under this section –
(a) restricts the
immunities and privileges conferred by this Part of this Act; or
(b) extends the
immunities and privileges conferred by this Part of this Act so as to comply
with the requirements of any treaty, convention or other international
agreement to which the United Kingdom is a party on behalf of the Bailiwick (as
well as on its own behalf),
that Order shall have effect in the Bailiwick as it has effect in the
United Kingdom
if registered in the Royal Court of Jersey and from the date of such
registration.]
16.-[(1) This Part of this Act does not affect
any immunity or privilege customarily granted to members of a mission within
the meaning of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations signed in 1961 or
members of a consular post within the meaning of the Vienna Convention on
Consular Relations signed in 1963; and –
(a) section 4
above does not apply to proceedings concerning the employment of the members of
such a mission or consular post;
(b) section 6(1)
above does not apply to proceedings concerning a State’s title or its
possession of property used for the purposes of a diplomatic mission.]
(2) This Part of
this Act does not apply to proceedings relating to anything done by or in
relation to the armed forces of a State while present in the United Kingdom * *
* * *.
(3) This Part of
this Act does not apply to proceedings to which section 17(6) of the Nuclear Installations Act
1965 applies.
(4) This Part of
this Act does not apply to criminal proceedings.
(5) This Part of
this Act does not apply to any proceedings relating to taxation other than
those mentioned in section 11 above.
17.-(1) In this Part of this Act –
“the Brussels Convention” means the International
Convention for the Unification
of Certain Rules Concerning the Immunity of State-owned Ships
signed in Brussels
on 10th April 1926;
“commercial purposes” means purposes of such
transactions or activities as are mentioned in section 3(3) above;
“ship” includes hovercraft.
(2) In sections
2(2) and 13(3) above references to an agreement include references to a treaty,
convention or other international agreement.
(3) * * * * * * *
(4) * * * * * * *
(5) * * * * * * *
PART II
JUDGMENTS AGAINST UNITED KINGDOM
IN CONVENTION STATES
18.-(1) This section applies to any judgment
given against the United
Kingdom by a court in another State party to
the European Convention on State Immunity, being a judgment –
(a) given in
proceedings in which the United Kingdom was not entitled to immunity by virtue
of provisions corresponding to those of sections 2 to 11 above; and
(b) which is
final, that is to say, which is not or is no longer subject to appeal or, if
given in default of appearance, liable to be set aside.
(2) Subject to
section 19 below, a judgment to which this section applies shall be recognised in any court in the United Kingdom as conclusive
between the parties thereto in all proceedings founded on the same cause of
action and may be relied on by way of defence or
counter-claim in such proceedings.
(3) Subsection (2)
above (but not section 19 below) shall have effect also in relation to any
settlement entered into by the United Kingdom before a court in another State
party to the Convention which under the law of that State is treated as
equivalent to a judgment.
(4) In this
section references to a court in a State party to the Convention include
references to a court in any territory in respect of which it is a party.
19.-(1) A court need not give effect to section
18 above in the case of a judgment –
(a) if to do so
would be manifestly contrary to public policy or if any party to the
proceedings in which the judgment was given had no adequate opportunity to
present his case; or
(b) if the
judgment was given without provisions corresponding to those of section 12
above having been complied with and the United Kingdom has not entered an
appearance or applied to have the judgment set aside.
(2) A court need
not give effect to section 18 above in the case of a judgment –
(a) if proceedings
between the same parties, based on the same facts and having the same purpose
–
(i) are
pending before a court in the United
Kingdom and were the first to be instituted;
or
(ii) are pending
before a court in another State party to the Convention, were the first to be
instituted and may result in a judgment to which that section will apply; or
(b) if the result
of the judgment is inconsistent with the result of another judgment given in
proceedings between the same parties and –
(i) the
other judgment is by a court in the United Kingdom and either those proceedings
were the first to be instituted or the judgment of that court was given before
the first-mentioned judgment became final within the meaning of subsection (1)(b)
of section 18 above; or
(ii) the other
judgment is by a court in another State party to the Convention and that
section has already become applicable to it.
(3) Where the
judgment was given against the United Kingdom in proceedings in respect of which
the United Kingdom was not entitled to immunity by virtue of a provision
corresponding to section 6(2) above, a court need not give effect to section 18
above in respect of the judgment if the court that gave the judgment –
(a) would not have
had jurisdiction in the matter if it had applied rules of jurisdiction
corresponding to those applicable to such matters in the United Kingdom;
or
(b) applied a law
other than indicated by the United Kingdom rules of private international law
and would have reached a different conclusion if it had applied the law so
indicated.
(4) In subsection
(2) above references to a court in the United Kingdom include references to a
court in any dependent territory in respect of which the United Kingdom is a
party to the Convention, and references to a court in another State party to
the Convention include references to a court in any territory in respect of
which it is a party.
PART III
MISCELLANEOUS AND SUPPLEMENTARY
20. * * * * * *
*
21. A
certificate by or on behalf of the Secretary of State shall be conclusive
evidence on any question –
(a) whether any
country is a State for the purposes of Part I of this Act, whether any
territory is a constituent territory of a federal State for those purposes or
as to the person or persons to be regarded for those purposes as the head or
government of a State;
(b) whether a
State is a party to the Brussels Convention mentioned in Part I of this Act;
(c) whether a
State is a party to the European Convention on State Immunity, whether it has
made a declaration under Article 24 of that Convention or as to the
territories in respect of which the United Kingdom or any other State
is a party;
(d) whether, and
if so when, a document has been served or received as mentioned in section
12(1) or (5) above.
22.-(1) In this Act “court” includes
any tribunal or body exercising judicial functions; * * * * * .
(2) In this Act
references to entry of appearance and judgments in default of appearance
include references to any corresponding procedures.
(3) In this Act
“the European Convention on State Immunity” means the Convention of
that name signed in Basle on 16th May 1972.
(4) In this Act
“dependent territory” means –
(a) any of the Channel Islands;
(b) the Isle of Man;
(c) any colony
other than one for whose external relations a country other than the United Kingdom
is responsible; or
(d) any country or
territory outside Her Majesty’s dominions in which Her Majesty has
jurisdiction in right of the government of the United Kingdom.
(5) * * * * * * *
23.-(1) This Act may be cited as the State Immunity Act 1978.
(2) * * * * * * *
(3) Subject to
subsection (4) below, Parts I and II of this Act do not apply to proceedings in
respect of matters that occurred before the date of the coming into force of
this Act and, in particular –
(a) sections 2(2)
and 13(3) do not apply to any prior agreement, and
(b) sections 3, 4
and 9 do not apply to any transaction, contract or arbitration agreement,
entered into before that date.
(4) Section 12
above applies to any proceedings instituted after the coming into force of this
Act.
(5) * * * * * * *
(6) * * * * * * *
(7) * * * * * * *