Key Note “Immunities of State Officials and Prosecutors for International Crimes” Prof. Dapo AKANDE

Prof. Akande is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford and the member of the UN International Law Commission (ILC).
In order to safeguard the independence and sovereign equality of states, international law provides that certain state officials are immune from the criminal jurisdiction of foreign states. While it is clear that international law immunities are accorded to some officials on the basis of their status, and to others because they have acted in their official capacity, it remains unclear whether there are any exceptions to such immunity. This lecture will examine whether (i) international law immunities apply in the case of prosecutions for international crimes and (ii) such immunities apply to prosecutions undertaken by international tribunals? The lecture will consider the recent work of the International Law Commission on the topic, as well as developments at the International Criminal Court (ICC) with regard to the immunity of heads of state. With regard to the latter, the lecture will consider immunity before the ICC but also immunity of state officials with respect to states who are acting at the request of the ICC.