Government of the Republic of Spain v SS “Arantzazu Mendi”: HL 1939

The House considered the weight to be given to a certificate as to a statement by HM government as to the recognition of the defendant as a sovereign state: ‘Our State cannot speak with two voices on such a matter, the judiciary saying one thing, the executive another. Our Sovereign has to decide whom he will recognize as a fellow sovereign in the family of States; and the relations of the foreign State with ours in the matter of State Immunities must flow from that decision alone.’

Judges:

Lord Atkin

Citations:

[1939] AC 256

Cited by:

CitedAlamieyeseigha, Regina (on the Application Of) v Crown Prosecution Service Admn 25-Nov-2005
The defendant argued that as Governor and Chief Excecutive of Bayelsa State in Nigeria he had sovereign immunity. The Foreign Office had issued a certificate that the defendant was not a Head of States under the 1978 Act. The A-G of Bayelsa had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

International

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.235350