Altman Real Estate v. Inter- American Development Bank and others

The Inter-American Development Bank requested that the Supreme Court discharge a freezing order issued by the Chief Justice upon a provisional request filed by Altam Real Estate, pending a civil action brought by the private company against the Bank.

While the judgment primarily addresses the Bank’s immunity from the seizure of its assets, the Court also provided some general considerations on the scope of immunities of international organizations before national tribunals. Before the Supreme Court, the respondent argued that commercial activities are not covered by the immunity of the Bank and other similar institutions. In support of this argument, the respondent relied on the judgment delivered by the United States District Court in the case of Atkinson v. Inter-American Development. In addition, the respondent claimed that international law provides for waiver of immunity in cases involving commercial transactions by independent funding agencies, and that, thus, the immunities could not be raised as a bar to the present suit.

As to the first point, the Court underlined that the United States courts relied on the commercial activities exception, as the domestic legislation on the privileges and immunities of international organizations so provides. In the legal system of Barbados, there is no rule providing for such an exception.

As to second point, the Court affirmed that “waiver is an option which the organization possessing the immunity may or may not exercise. The Court cannot impose a waiver on any party, especially an international organization, without statutory authority so to do or without the organization itself waiving its immunity. To do so would undermine the purpose of having the immunities in the first place. When the court is statutorily empowered to do so this could constitute an exception to the immunity and not a waiver”.