Considerations on the Possible Exception of State Immunity Rule in Contemporary International Law

Iran’s Parliament adopted a bill under the title of Act on Jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Courts on the Civil Claims against Foreign Stats on 7 February 2012 just four days after the ICJ judgment on the case of Jurisdictional Immunity of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening). The Iranian Act was in reaction to the U.S. government legislations and was basically a countermeasure action. With considering to the US acts and procedures and the aforesaid Iranian Act, this article will examine the main pretext for similar measures, exceptions to the immunity rule when meet with breaches of peremptory norm of international law, in light of the findings of the Court in the above case and other sources of international law. Through consideration the international law sources and internal acts, in conclusion and with dialectic between two previously mentioned sections, I try to find proper response for this question that whether or not countermeasure could have legal basis in the present case.