La inmunidad de jurisdicción de los bancos multilaterales de desarrollo. Análisis de la práctica de los Estados Unidos de América

The article examines the jurisdictional immunity of international development banks (IDB’s) that have their seat in the United States of America. The terms of agreement of these institutions include a clause of waiver of immunity for any acts performed in the international financial markets. This broad waiver constitutes a special clause in regard to the general regime of immunity of international organizations, that grants protection for all acts performed in the exercise of their statutory functions. Before this legal background, this article analyzes the case-law of the U.S. courts when applying the waiver clauses of the IDB’s terms of agreement. The study of this case-law allows for affirming that U.S. courts do not interpret the clauses in accordance with relevant norms of treaty interpretation. Instead these courts follow strictly the restrictive criteria for waiver of immunity set forth by the Department of State, thus blurring the separation of powers between the executive and the judicial branches, while at the same time not applying with precision the IDB’s terms of agreement. The IDB’s, in turn, look with complacence to this interpretation by U.S. courts, because it shields them from claims by persons affected by their financial activities