State immunity
Also called: Sovereign immunity · Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
State immunity is a rule of international law. It says one country cannot be sued in another country's courts unless it agrees. It is also called sovereign immunity. The rule comes from the idea that all states are sovereign (they rule themselves) and equal, so no state's court can sit in judgment over another state. Most countries now apply it in a narrower form. A foreign state is protected for its official acts as a government, but often not for ordinary business deals it makes like a private trader. The rule matters because it can block cases against foreign governments, even when the harm is real.
Example
Suppose victims of Nepal's August 2026 floods sue a foreign government in a Nepali court for failing to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. That government could argue state immunity: without its consent, the court cannot hear the case. A claim against a private foreign company would not face this particular hurdle, though it would still have to prove causation (that the company's emissions led to the harm).
Don't confuse with
- Diplomatic immunity: this protects individual diplomats (such as ambassadors) and their embassies from local courts. State immunity protects the foreign state itself.
- Suits against the Indian government at home: under Article 300, the Government of India can sue and be sued in Indian courts. That concerns a state in its own courts, not a foreign state.