联合国维和行动中的侵权责任与司法豁免:对立与破解

Tort Liability and Jurisdictional Immunities in UN Peacekeeping Operations:Confrontations and Decisions

因联合国维和部队侵权行为导致的“第三方”损害所引发的争端时有发生。美国法院近几年审理了两起针对联合国海地稳定特派团在海地引起霍乱病毒全国性大爆发的集体诉讼。尽管美国法院的裁判符合美国国内法和相关国际法的规定,但联合国的司法豁免与第三方诉诸法律和有效法律救济的权利之间显然存在严重的“对立”。这反映出当前国际组织豁免问题在国际法和国内法问题上的深层机制性不足。因此,充分考虑与联合国、联合国会员国和个人三方的关系有关的政策因素,选择对于既有制度进行最小调整的改革策略,这一现状才能得到有效的改变。例如,可以在《联合国外交特权及豁免公约》框架内弱化司法豁免的“绝对性”或强化替代性争端解决机制的作用。在豁免法律制度的框架以外,还存在一种更加彻底的改革思路,比如建立一个常设的、独立于联合国及其会员国的专门法庭。

The Post-Cold War period has witnessed a number of disputes over“third-party”damages as a result of torts committed by UN Peacekeeping Forces.This is most recently evident in the two class action lawsuits that have recently come before United States courts against the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti(MINUSTAH)for importing the cholera virus into Haiti and causing a nationwide epidemic.In“Laventure v.United Nations”,the Court held that an express declaration of UN liability for damages caused by peacekeeping forces otherwise than by operational necessity does not constitute an“express waiver”of immunity.In“Georges v.United Nations”,the Court ruled that the provision by the UN of alternative means of dispute settlement for disputes of a private-law nature is not a prerequisite for its immunity from jurisdiction.This paper argues that,although the Courts'decisions are consistent with the domestic law of the United States and relevant rules of international law,a serious“contradiction”between UN judicial immunity and the right of third parties to access to justice and effective legal remedies is clear.This situation can therefore be meaningfully remedied by choosing a reform strategy that minimizes the adjustment to the established system,taking full account of the policy considerations relating to the relationship between the UN,its Member States and individuals.For example,it may be possible,within the framework of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,to weaken the“absoluteness”of judicial immunity or to strengthen the role of alternative dispute settlement mechanisms.A more radical approach to the reform of the legal regime of immunity would be to establish a permanent,specialized tribunal,independent of the Organization and its Member States.