A European Way to Approach (and Limit) the Law on State Immunity? The Court of Justice in the RINA Case

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2020 5(1), 645-661 | European Forum Insight of 26 June 2020 | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Framing the request for the preliminary ruling. - III. The AG Opinion and the Court of Justice's judgment. - III.1. The scope of application of Regulation 44/2001 from the viewpoint of public international law. - III.2. The immunity issue. - IV. The impact of the RINA Case on public international law. - IV.1. The methodology that lead to the identification of the customary rule on State immunity. - IV.2. The scope of that rule, in particular when the conduct of private actors and the distinction between acta iure imperii and acta iure gestionis are concerned. - V. Concluding remarks. | (Abstract) The present Insight offers an analysis of the judgment of the Court of Justice in the so-called RINA case (judgment of 7 May 2020, case C-641/18, LG and Others v. Rina and Ente Registro Navale), which deals with the (non) automatic extension of State immunity to private actors entrusted with some public functions. Building on the opinion of AG Spzunar and on the Court of Justice' judgment, the Insight argues that the decision will have an impact on the evolution of the law on State immunity towards a more limited scope of application. It also constitutes evidence of how the EU might contribute with its own practice to this end.