Embassy Eviction Case

• Jurisdiction: Grecia
• Date: 01 January 1965
• Court: Court of First Instance (Greece)

Greece, Tribunal of First Instance of Athens.

(Petrochilos, President)

Embassy Eviction Case1

Sovereign immunity Foreign States and their property Lease of building for use as embassy premises Action for eviction upon expiry of lease Whether foreign State entitled to jurisdictional immunity Acts iure imperii and iure gestionis Whether nature or purpose of act decisive Conditions for immunity from execution and attachment Distinction between public and private assets Waiver Whether waiver of jurisdictional immunity constitutes waiver of immunity from execution or attachment Whether agreement to the application of legislation involving waiver for the future prevents reliance on immunity in the event of a dispute Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, Articles 1, 22 and 31 Whether codification of existing rules of international law The law of Greece

Summary: The facts:An action for eviction was brought against a foreign State which had leased a building for use as embassy premises, on the ground that the lease had expired. The foreign State concerned claimed jurisdictional immunity.

Held:The action was dismissed since the foreign State was entitled to jurisdictional immunity.

(1) Foreign States enjoyed immunity from jursidiction for their acts carried out in exercise of a public power, but not for their acts governed by private law. Nevertheless the predominant opinion in both Greek and foreign jurisprudence was that foreign States also enjoyed immunity from jurisdiction with respect to matters governed by private law where the dispute had arisen from acts of those States closely linked with the exercise of public power.

(2) Forcible execution could be levied against a foreign State where the courts of that State had jurisdiction to decide the merits of the case. Such execution could, however, only be levied on private assets owned by the State and not on its public assets, nor on property against which action by force was not permitted.

(3) Authorisation to take provisional measures against a foreign State was dependant upon there being authorisation for forcible execution against that State.

(4) Waiver of jurisdictional immunity did not constitute waiver of immunity with regard to the taking of provisional measures or for forcible execution of any subsequent judgment since waiver had to be clear and indisputable even regarding its extent.

(5) The execution of an order against a foreign State for its forcible eviction from a building leased for use as embassy premises was prohibited by international law since it involved the exercise of constraint upon the person of the ambassador refusing to comply with the order, his family, their possessions and possibly the records of the embassy.

(6) Agreement at the time of the conclusion of a contract to the application of certain legislation involving the waiver of immunity in the event of a dispute did not prevent, a foreign State from invoking immunity from jurisdiction or execution if proceedings were subsequently brought or enforcement of an ensuing judgment was sought.

(7) A foreign State was also entitled to immunity, in the circumstances of the present case, on the basis of Articles 1, 22 and 31 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961. These provisions contained rules of public international law and therefore bound Greece, even though that country had not ratified the Convention.

The following is the text of the relevant part of the judgment of the Court:

According to Article 26 of the Code of Civil Procedure all foreigners in Greece who enjoy the right of ambassadors to immunity from jurisdiction are exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. This privilege is also enjoyed by foreign States. In the past these States enjoyed immunity from jurisdiction in every case but in recent years this absolute immunity has no longer been applied. Nowadays foreign States enjoy immunity from jurisdiction for their acts carried out in exercise of a public power and not for their acts governed...