The Case “Manoharan et al. v. Rajapaksa” and Immunity of Heads of State from Foreign Jurisdiction

Abstract

The author explores legal prospects of a civil complaint filed in January 2011 in the U.S. district court for the District of Columbia against the incumbent President of Sri-Lanka. Plaintiffs accuse Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa of sanctioning extrajudicial killings of their relatives during the civil war with Tamil separatists. In this connection, the author examines current international law and legal writings relating to the personal immunities of incumbent heads of state from foreign criminal and civil jurisdiction, as well as practice of U.S. courts in this field. She describes the history and contents of a U.S. common-law doctrine of head-of-state immunity. Special attention is given to the question whether senior State officials preserve their immunities ratione personae when they commit such serious international crimes, as torture and extrajudicial killings.

Keywords

• personal immunities of foreign officials
• head of state immunity
• international crimes
• official/private acts
• foreign civil and criminal jurisdiction