Stergiopoulos v. Iran: Italian Supreme Court of Cassation Decision on Human Rights Limitations on Sovereign Immunity in International Law and Italian Constitutional Law

In Angela Stergiopoulos v. Iran, the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation held that state immunity does not bar exequatur proceedings against a foreign state when those proceedings seek the recognition and enforcement of a foreign judicial decision finding the state responsible for serious breaches of human rights. Stergiopoulos confirms the Italian courts’ persisting inclination to champion a human rights limitation to state immunity in contrast to mainstream transnational case law. It also reveals several legal and policy risks arising out of that position. Yet the decision should be seen in the context of a new constellation of states prioritizing human rights enforcement over state immunity, including Brazil and, at least in the Court’s view, the United States, especially given the availability under U.S. law of proceedings against states sponsors of terrorism accused of certain egregious violations of human rights.