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European Journal of International Law 2007 18(5):939-953; doi:10.1093/ejil/chm046
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The European Journal of International Law Vol. 18 no. 5 © EJIL 2008; all rights reserved

Immunity for Torture: Lessons from Bouzari v. Iran

Noah Benjamin Novogrodsky*

* Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center; Director, International Human Rights Program, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. I am grateful to Lindsay Gastrell for her excellent research assistance in support of this article. Email: nbn2{at}law.georgetown.edu


  Abstract

This article assesses the implications of the Canadian case of Bouzari v. Islamic Republic of Iran in which sovereign immunity barred recovery against a foreign state for acts of torture. Part 2 describes the case and the courts' rejection of arguments centred on the hierarchy of jus cogens norms, implied waiver and common law principles. Part 3 evaluates parallel developments in the United States and demonstrates the commonalities and differences associated with efforts to overcome immunity in the two countries. Part 4 examines potential amendments to Canada's State Immunity Act with a view to balancing considerations of comity with a just and workable means of holding states accountable for grave human rights abuses.


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