Judicial Immunity in UK Law

Leading Cases
  • Darker and Others v Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police
    • House of Lords
    • 27 Julio 2000

    The purpose of the immunity is to protect witnesses against claims made against them for something said or done in the course of giving or preparing to give evidence.

    On the other hand there has to be some degree of certainty about the existence of an immunity for it to be effective. The matter cannot be entirely left as one to be determined on each and every occasion. For the immunity of a witness to be effective it is necessary that the person concerned should know in advance with some certainty that what he or she says will be protected.

  • R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet Ugarte (No. 3)
    • House of Lords
    • 24 Marzo 1999

    Where a state is not directly or indirectly impleaded in the litigation, so that no issue of state immunity as such arises, the English and American courts have nonetheless, as a matter of judicial restraint, held themselves not competent to entertain litigation that turns on the validity of the public acts of a foreign state, applying what has become known as the act of state doctrine.

  • The Freedom and Justice Party and Others v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Another The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis (Interested Party) Amnesty International and Another (Interveners)
    • Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court)
    • 05 Agosto 2016

    This survey of State practice, judicial decisions and the views of academic commentators leads us to the firm conclusion that there has emerged a clear rule of customary international law which requires a State which has agreed to receive a special mission to secure the inviolability and immunity from criminal jurisdiction of the members of the mission during its currency.

  • Buttes Gas and Oil Company v Hammer; Buttes Gas and Oil Company v Hammer (No. 3)
    • House of Lords
    • 29 Octubre 1981

    Leaving aside all possibility of embarrassment in our foreign relations (which it can be said not to have been drawn to the attention of the court by the executive) there are - to follow the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals - no judicial or manageable standards by which to judge these issues, or to adopt another phrase (from a passage not quoted), the court would be in a judicial no-man's land: the court would be asked to review transactions in which four sovereign states were involved, which they had brought to a precarious settlement, after diplomacy and the use of force, and to say that at least part of these were "unlawful" under international law.

  • Jones v Ministry of the Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and another (Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and another intervening); Mitchell v Al-Dali;
    • House of Lords
    • 14 Junio 2006

    But the same approach cannot be adopted in international law, which is based upon the common consent of nations. It is not for a national court to "develop" international law by unilaterally adopting a version of that law which, however desirable, forward-looking and reflective of values it may be, is simply not accepted by other states. (See Al-Adsani 34 EHRR 273, 297, para O-II9 in the concurring opinion of judges Pellonpää and Bratza).

  • Lincoln v Daniels
    • Court of Appeal
    • 17 Julio 1961

    I have come to the conclusion that the priviloge that covers proceedings in a court of justice ought not to be extended to matters outside those proceedings excopt where it is strictly necessary to do so in order to protect those who are to participate in the proceedings from a flank attack.

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Legislation
  • Nationality and Borders Act 2022
    • UK Non-devolved
    • 1 de Enero de 2022
    ... ... brought, under any provision of immigration legislation, or(ii) judicial review proceedings, or (in Scotland) an application to the supervisory ... or tribunal whether Article 31(1) of the Refugee Convention (immunity from certain penalties) applies in relation to a person who is a refugee ... ...
  • State Immunity Act 1978
    • UK Non-devolved
    • 1 de Enero de 1978
  • Consular Relations Act 1968
    • UK Non-devolved
    • 1 de Enero de 1968
    ... ... 52, 54, 62 and 67 shall be construed as granting any privilege or immunity which they require to be granted ... (8A) The references in Articles 50 ... assume the defence of their rights and interests;(j) transmitting judicial and extra-judicial documents or executing letters rogatory or commissions ... ...
  • Coroners and Justice Act 2009
    • UK Non-devolved
    • 1 de Enero de 2009
    ... ... 4 heading substituted (28.6.2022) by Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (c. 35), ss. 39(2), 51(3) # F140 S. 4(1)(a)(aa) ... withhold the information (whether on grounds of public interest immunity or on other grounds) , but(b) the person disclosed the information without ... ...
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Books & Journal Articles
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Law Firm Commentaries
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Forms
  • Ask the court to serve documents outside England and Wales
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    County Court forms including the N1 money claim form.
    ... ... of the State Immunity Act 1978? ... 5. Name of party to be served ... 6. Address of party to be ... through the judicial authority of ... through a British consular authority at ... through the ... ...
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