X v. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America

The applicant, a former employee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), brought a legal action against the Commission and its Executive Secretary, as legal representative of the ECLA, in Chile’s labour courts, complaining that he had received an inadequate salary exchange rate and benefits allowance.

However, the proceedings before the national court were dismissed following the decision of the Supreme Court of Chile, which declared that national courts lacked jurisdiction over disputes brought against the respondent organization. The Supreme Court determined that the ECLA enjoyed immunity from the jurisdiction of national courts under the Headquarters Agreement concluded between the respondent organization and Chile in 1953. Specifically, the Agreement provides that the Government recognizes the immunity of the Headquarters in Chile and that the ECLA and its property, wherever located, shall be immune from legal process, unless it has expressly waived its immunity.

The Supreme Court also underlined that the Agreement confers on the Executive Secretary the same immunities granted to officials by Article 105 of the United Nations Charter. Therefore, as the judgment underlined, the ECLA’s Executive Secretary cannot be suited before a national courts for the acts committed in the performance of his official functions. The Supreme Court noted that, in the instante case, the applicant filed an action at law against the Executive Secretary as a legal representative of the ECLA. In light of the functional immunity recognized to him, the claims advanced by the applicant against the Executive Secretary must be dismissed.

The Supreme Court emphasized that the Headquarters Agreement provisions concerning the jurisdictional immunity of the ECLA and its officials and functionaries reflected the legal regime outlined under the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations.