Abstract
Central banks and in particular their assets typically enjoy substantial protection under international and domestic immunity laws. This may be changing. The presentation discusses sovereign immunity rules and the future of climate change litigations against central banks and sovereign wealth funds. It argues that expansions of central banks’ responsibilities and activities in financial markets over the past decades increase the risk of climate lawsuits as well as the risk of its assets being exempted from absolute immunity from enforcement measures. Taking a Swedish supreme court judgment from 2021 as a starting point, the presentation will discuss sovereign immunity rules concerning central banks under international customary law. It argues that there is currently no clear rule in international custom concerning whether absolute immunity is provided for central bank assets that do not have a relation to its exercise of monetary policy.
Presentation
See the presentation - in .pdf.