Talk:Corporate liability

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Removed section

I have removed this section because sovereign immunity is not an element of liability, but of jurisdiction to adjudicate. In addition, almost everything that a corporation could do that would give rise to liability would not be covered under the restrictive theory of sovereign immunity, which is accepted by nearly all states. See Restat. 3d of Foreign Relations § 451:

Under international law, a state or state instrumentality is immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of another state, except with respect to claims arising out of activities of the kind that may be carried on by private persons.

Thus, unless the corporation was engaged in activities different in kind from those undertaken by private persons (such as espionage, terrorism, etc.), sovereign immunity would not apply. I believe that these circumstances are sufficiently rare that sovereign immunity does not bear mentioning here. Though the Restatement summarizes how international law is incorporated into US law, the European Convention on State Immunity (1972) also codifies the restrictive theory, as do the British State Immunity Act of 1978, Canadian State Immunity Act of 1982, and Australian Foreign States Immunities Act of 1985. Danculley 04:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] State immunity

Some corporations are established and operated by sovereign states and, as such, they may enjoy sovereign immunity for some of their acts and omissions.