Full Description
Political and legal immunity are justified by the principle that certain social aims outweigh the value of imposing liability. To be exempt from the rules, however, is a privilege granted to or demanded by the powerful. The structural disparities that underpin immunity can turn it into an unjust prerogative, one that is inscribed by global inequalities.
Set against the backdrop of an extraordinary wave of litigation against Chinese corporations in Ethiopia, Immunity on Trial probes the question of immunity in everyday encounters steeped in highly asymmetrical power relations. Drawing on observations from the courthouse, interviews with litigants, judges, and court support staff, and analyses of case files, Miriam Driessen demonstrates how immunity is debated and delegitimized—or affirmed—by those who fight, exact, grant, or weigh it. From the construction site to the police station, from the registrar's office into the courtroom, she documents tussles over immunity, unraveling the politics of dignity on which they are founded.
Contents
Contents
Maps
Introduction
1. Sovereignty and Contested Claims of Immunity
2. The Ethiopian Plaintiffs: "Even the Law Saw It and Smiled"
3. The Chinese Defendants: "The Law Is on Their Side"
4. Immunity Through Inequality
5. Enacting Jurisdiction, Reenacting Sovereignty
6. Dimming Some Voices, Amplifying Others
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
