Sovereign immunity

Definition
 {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" style="background-color:#ffffcc;" ! scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffaa;"| Sovereign immunity The Law of the Sea Convention grants sovereign immunity to specific vessels.

The first class of vessels afforded sovereign immunity are warships, defined as “ship[s] belonging to the armed forces of a State bearing the external marks distinguishing such ships of its nationality, under the command of an officer duly commissioned by the government of the State and whose name appears in the appropriate service list or its equivalent, and manned by a crew which is under regular armed forces discipline”. Warships are considered “an expression of the sovereignty of the State whose flag [they] fl[y]”, and are afforded immunity in the internal waters of a third State, in the territorial sea of a third State, and on the high seas.

Sovereign immunity is also granted to government vessels operated for non-commercial purposes.

Vessels possessing sovereign immunity on the high seas “have complete immunity from the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State”. ‘Complete immunity’ means that sovereign immune vessels cannot be subjected “to any act of civil, criminal, or other jurisdiction of another State”, which includes any enforcement measure by a non-flag State. Notably, this prevents a non-flag State from exercising the right of visit.

This complete immunity is applicable in the territorial waters of a coastal State, subject to the requirements that a sovereign immune vessel must comply with the coastal State’s regulations concerning passage through its waters, and that the flag State of the immune vessel must bear responsibility for any damage that arises from its failure to comply with such regulations. Sovereign immunity is also maintained within a foreign State’s internal waters subject to diplomatic clearance, and within archipelagic waters.

Any interference with cyber infrastructure on board a vessel that possesses sovereign immunity constitutes a violation of international law. In this context, the notion of interference includes any activity that damages or significantly impairs the operation of the cyber infrastructure in question.

Sovereign immunity is not absolute and can cease to apply as between States that are parties to an international armed conflict.