thanx
cool stuff

imagine what tripoints they must have there with no
territory
& no citizens to look for them

& what a great health plan too

--- Lucas <lucas_v1@...> wrote:

> Dear members,
>
> As I've promised, I'll come up with everything I
> find interesting or
> useful from my Faculty textbooks. So here it is, an
> exceprt
> from 'Public International Law; 150 Leading Cases'
> by Alina
> Kaczorowska, Old Bailey Press. It is about the
> 'Scarfo v Sovereign
> Order of Malta' case [(1957) 24 ILR 1 Tribunal of
> Rome, Italy]
>
> "Legal personality of the sovereign order of Malta -
> State immunity
>
> Facts
>
> The plaintiff was employed as a doctor by the Order.
> He sued for
> breach of his contract of employment. The Order
> argued that Italian
> courts had no jurisdiction because the Order, being
> a subject of
> international law and therefore a sovereign entity,
> was entitled to
> State immunity.
>
> Held
>
> The tribunal recognised that the Order was a subject
> of international
> law and therefore the Italian court had no
> jurisdiction over the
> dispute.
>
> Judgement
>
> 'There can be no doubt that the Order of Malta is a
> sovereign entity
> and a subject of international law...
> The limitations on the sovereignty of the Order of
> Malta which
> undoubtedly exist result mainly from the absence of
> State territory
> and citizens, and also from the fact that it is a
> religious Order
> recognised by the Holy See and what may be termed
> "persona moralis in
> Ecclesia" (which, by reason of its military, noble
> and knightly
> origin, occupies a special position). These
> limitations, however, are
> not such as to be able to negative its sovereignty.
> Its sovereignty
> exists in law and is determined by its own legal
> order which is
> entirely independent of that of other subjects of
> international law.
> The Order has its own administration and courts, and
> the right of
> active and passive legislation (art 2 of the
> Constitution) which has
> been recognised by the Holy See. The latter has
> approved a diplomatic
> representation of the Order (art 4 of the new
> Constitution), and the
> right of legation is also recognised by the Italian
> State, which has
> a legation accredited to the Order of Malta. Thus
> the status of the
> Order as a subject of international law, at any rate
> vis-a-vis the
> Italian State, cannot be doubted because the Italian
> State, by
> establishing a legation, has recognised the
> sovereignty of the Order
> within its own territory...'
>
> Comment
>
> The Order of Malta was founded as a religious
> military order of the
> Roman Catholic Church during the Crusades. In 1312
> it was given the
> Island of Rhodes by the Pope, which was lost to the
> Turkish Sultan in
> 1532. In 1530 the Order became a vassal of the King
> of Sicily and was
> given the Islands of Malta and Gozo, which it lost
> in 1798. In 1834
> the Order established itself in Rome as a
> humanitarian organisation.
> In 1446 Pope Nicholas V acknowledged the Grand
> Master of the Order as
> a 'sovereign prince'. From the time of its
> establishment in Rhodes,
> the Order has always maintained diplomatic relations
> with other
> States and has been consistently treated as a
> sovereign State despite
> its lack of territory or population. Its Knights are
> citizens of
> other States. Italy, where the Order is located, has
> recognised the
> Order as a sovereign State in a number of
> legislative and
> administrative Actsm as well as in decisions of its
> judiciary. The
> Italian Council of State excluded the Order from the
> application of
> the 1866 royal decree suppressing religious orders.
> In 1921 the Grand
> Master and Grand Chancellor of the Order were
> exempted from customs
> duties in the same way as any Head of State or
> government. From 1956
> Italy established full diplomatic relations with the
> Order, although
> the Grand Master has been accreditated to Italy
> since 1929. The
> relationship between the Order and Italy is based on
> the Note
> delivered by the Order's ambassador to Italy on 11
> January 1969,
> which was endorsed by the Government of Italy. In
> the endorsement the
> Italian Government recognised the Grand Master as a
> foreign Head of
> State and the institutions of the Order were granted
> judicial
> personality and diplomatic immunity in respect of
> its property
> situated in Italy. The Order has also been
> recognised as a sovereign
> State by the Italian Judiciary. In 1947 the Court of
> Cassation in
> Rome held that the Order, being a subject of
> international law, was
> exempt from executive proceedings and therefore the
> Italian
> employment law did not apply to the employees of the
> Order's Grand
> Magistery and the Italian Association of Knights. In
> the above case
> the Italian court recognised the sovereignty of the
> Order.
> The Order has established diplomatic relations with
> more than 80
> States and has lesser relations with five other
> States, has its own
> postal service, issues passports which are
> internationally
> recognised, is a member of numerous international
> organisations,
> since 1994 has a status of permanent observer to the
> UN, enters into
> treaties and international agreements with many
> independent States,
> possesses its own fleet of hospital aircraft carying
> its flag, and is
> independent from other States and jurisdictions
> except in religious
> matters in which the Order is subordinated to the
> Holy See. Its
> decorations (a Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and
> Devotion, and the
> Collar Pro Merito Melitense) have been accepted by
> Heads of State or
> Government."
>
> I hope this is useful.
>
> Lucas
>
>
>
>

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