Abstract EN:

An examination of the State's immunity from constraint amounts to an examination of the State's legitimacy. The question of immunity goes back to the religions foundation of law : that which is sacred cannot be constrained. An analysis of the historical sources of administrative law and the identification of the basis of immunity from constraint in modern political philosophy and in legal theory will throw more light on the origin of the State's immunities and privileges in the areas of jurisdiction and execution. From the outset the protection of the State against procedures of constraint has consisted in establishing the principle that the State has absolute immunity. The development - on a domestic level and internationally - of civic-mindedness and public morality and the development of liberal philosophy, of human rights, of the rule of law and of democratic ideology on a universal, but above all European, level have led to a relativization of the notion that enforcement proceedings cannot be brought against the State. However, the classic principles governing the State's immunities and privileges in the area of jurisdiction and execution have not been completely overturned; the State's "mystical corpus" remains protected from the sacrileges of court-enforcement, which ultimately exists only against the State's "domestic corpus".