Immunity of International Organizations in United States Courts: Absolute or Restrictive?

Since 1945, international and intergovernmental organizations have been entitled to immunity under the International Organizations Immunities Act (IOIA) akin to that enjoyed by foreign governments, which was absolute at that time. In 1976, however, passage of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) significantly restricted the nature of foreign governments' immunity. This Article addresses the issue of whether the FSIA also restricted the immunity enjoyed by international organizations. The first two sections describe the IOLA and the FSIA.

The third section discusses a number of cases involving international organizations and the ways courts have been able to avoid the issue of whether the immunity enjoyed by international organizations has changed. The final section asserts that an international organization sued in a United States court can make a good argument based primarily on the legislative history of the two statutes that it is still entitled to absolute immunity.