Search Legislation

State Immunity Act 1978

 Help about what version

What Version

 Help about advanced features

Advanced Features

 Help about opening options

Opening Options

Changes over time for: Section 13

 Help about opening options

Changes to legislation:

There are currently no known outstanding effects for the State Immunity Act 1978, Section 13. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.

13 Other procedural privileges. U.K.

(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.

[F1(2A)Subject to subsection (3) below—

(a)where, on a complaint under section 111 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employment tribunal finds that a member of the staff of a diplomatic mission or a member of the consular staff of a consular post was unfairly dismissed, relief shall not be given against the State concerned by way of an order under section 113 of that Act; and

(b)where, on a complaint under Article 145 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, an industrial tribunal finds that a member of the staff of a diplomatic mission or a member of the consular staff of a consular post was unfairly dismissed, relief shall not be given against the State concerned by way of an order under Article 147 of that Order.]

(3)[F2Subsections (2) and (2A) above do] 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)In the application of this section to Scotland—

(a)the reference to “injunction” shall be construed as a reference to “interdict”;

(b)for paragraph (b) of subsection (2) above there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(b) the property of a State shall not be subject to any diligence for enforcing a judgment or order of a court or a decree arbitral or, in an action in rem, to arrestment or sale.”; and

(c)any reference to “process” shall be construed as a reference to “diligence”, any reference to “the issue of any process” as a reference to “the doing of diligence” and the reference in subsection (4)(b) above to “an arbitration award” as a reference to “a decree arbitral”.

[F3(7)In subsection (2A) above—

  • member of the consular staff of a consular post” is to be construed in accordance with Article 1(h) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations done at Vienna on 24 April 1963; and

  • member of the staff of a diplomatic mission” is to be construed in accordance with Article 1(c) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations done at Vienna on 18 April 1961.]

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources