SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY AND THE ATTACHMENT OF NIGERIAN PRESIDENTIAL JETS IN FRANCE: THE ERROR OF THE JUDICIAL COURT OF PARIS

Abstract

The Federal Republic of Nigeria was in the news of late over enforcement actions taken against three of her presidential jets by a Chinese company known as Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment in France. The question had always arisen as to the extent properties of a foreign state were barred from the enforcement jurisdiction of a domestic court. Under the relative immunity principle which France had adopted, sovereign or diplomatic properties of a foreign state were entitled to immunity from enforcement. It was only the assets of a foreign state that could be classified as being in use for commercial purposes that were exempted from immunity. This work aimed at examining the state of law in France as well as the rules of customary international law adopted by France on issues of sovereign immunity with the objective of determining how the Judicial Court of Paris complied with that in the case of Nigeria. Doctrinal method was employed in this research by analysis of the French case laws, legislations and the United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunity of States and Their Property. It was found that France had formally adopted the relative immunity theory. This research also found that France had an obligation under their domestic law and customary international law to grant immunity to sovereign assets of Nigeria in France. This work further found that the Judicial Court of Paris wrongfully granted the seizure order against the three presidential jets of Nigeria in France as they ought to enjoy immunity as sovereign or diplomatic properties. This work recommended that the Federal Republic of Nigeria should appeal against the ruling of the Judicial Court of Paris to a higher French authority.