When May Senior State Officials Be Tried for International Crimes? Some Comments on the Congo v. Belgium Case

The recent judgment of the ICJ has indubitably shed light on a rather obscure area of international law, that is, the legal regulation of the personal immunities of foreign ministers. However, one should express serious misgivings about some of the Court's conclusions. In particular, the Court, besides omitting to pronounce upon the admissibility of universal criminal jurisdiction, failed both (i) to distinguish between so‐called functional immunities (inuring to foreign ministers and, more generally, to all state agents with respect to acts performed in their official capacity), and personal... Mehr ...