Enforcement against the assets of sovereign states

The State Immunity Act 1978 confers various immunities on sovereign states and central banks, both as regards being sued in the English courts and having judgments against them being enforced in the English courts. In AIG Capital Partners and others v The Republic of Kazakhstan [2005] EWHC 2239 (Comm) the claimants sought to enforce in the English courts an award obtained against the defendant issued by an ICSID Tribunal under a bilateral investment treaty. The relevant assets against which enforcement was sought were held in England on behalf of the defendant’s central bank. After a lengthy analysis of the 1978 Act, Aikens J concluded that the award could not be enforced against those assets.