*/
Constitutional law – Heads of foreign states. The case concerned the first judgment in the United Kingdom on whether personal immunity survived a sovereign following his death. The claimant widow of the deceased former King of Saudi Arabia brought a claim in the United Kingdom against his son, the defendant prince, for breach of contract. The prince applied for a declaration that the English court lacked jurisdiction, relying on his late father's alleged immunity as a sovereign head of state, under the State Immunity Act 1978. The Chancery Division, dismissing the application, held that a sovereign who had died in office did not remain the embodiment of the state once deceased. Accordingly, the Prince could not rely on a defence of state immunity to defeat the claimant's claim.
Constitutional law – Heads of foreign states. The case concerned the first judgment in the United Kingdom on whether personal immunity survived a sovereign following his death. The claimant widow of the deceased former King of Saudi Arabia brought a claim in the United Kingdom against his son, the defendant prince, for breach of contract. The prince applied for a declaration that the English court lacked jurisdiction, relying on his late father's alleged immunity as a sovereign head of state, under the State Immunity Act 1978. The Chancery Division, dismissing the application, held that a sovereign who had died in office did not remain the embodiment of the state once deceased. Accordingly, the Prince could not rely on a defence of state immunity to defeat the claimant's claim.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
By Kem Kemal, CEO, Henry Dannell
By BSK Financial Planning
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs
Susie Griffin on the admin that keeps barristers from billable work
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Kick off your career at the Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair this October – it’s one of the most valuable opportunities for aspiring barristers, says Amelia Clegg
Join us on Saturday 21 November 2026 at Leeds Beckett University and see for yourself why the North continues to be an exceptional place to build a career at the Bar
The golden age of advocacy? David Langwallner pays homage to the filmic if contentious barrister Sir Edward Carson and some of his contemporaries
Henry Fingerhut outlines what the Bar Standards Board AI guidance means for early career barristers
Not yet, says Jacob Turner. Regulation, unlike the technology itself, is a domain the legal profession can still control
