Weightmans acts for the Government of the State of Kuwait in landmark judgement
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has recently handed down judgement in The Government of the State of Kuwait v Mohamed EA-2024-000300 and EA-2024-000302 (10 September 2025) per John Bowers KC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, in which Mohinderpal Sethi KC acted for the State of Kuwait.
This is the first time that the EAT has considered the UK Supreme Court’s recent judgment in The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia v Costantine [2025],
In March 2024, Kuwait appealed 370 days out of time against a judgment of the employment tribunal on state immunity delivered in January 2023 and appealed 67 days out of time against a judgment on liability delivered in November 2023. Kuwait also appealed against the ET’s remedies decision in which the claimant was awarded damages for personal injury caused by discrimination. The remedies appeal was in time and permitted to proceed to a full hearing.
Meanwhile, Kuwait applied for an extension of time in the immunity and liability appeals. The Registrar applied the normal rules on time limits and refused to extend time. Importantly, this was before the Supreme Court’s decision in Costantine.
Allowing Kuwait’s appeal against the Registrar’s order, the EAT applied Costantine holding that state immunity was an exceptional feature of the appeals which disapplied the normal test for extensions of time and to which different and special considerations applied.
The EAT emphasised the importance of compliance by the employment tribunals and appeal tribunal with international law rules on state immunity. If the ET exercises jurisdiction over a foreign state which is entitled to state immunity, there is a breach of international law.
The positive duty under section 1(2) State Immunity Act 1978 on all appellate courts and tribunals to inquire and determine whether state immunity applies of their own motion was comprehensively reviewed by Lord Lloyd Jones in Costantine. The EAT held that there is now consistent jurisprudence to the effect that state immunity is capable of overriding procedural rules.
The Government of the State of Kuwait instructed lead partner Jawaid Rehman at Weightmans LLP, who has a specialism in advising Embassies of foreign states in dealing with issues of state and diplomatic Immunity. The Weightmans team also included Mark Foster and Lasya Nair. Mohinderpal Sethi KC appeared on behalf of the State of Kuwait, instructed by Weightmans.
Jawaid Rehman, Partner, Weightmans, said:
“I am delighted with the outcome of this landmark case. The Tribunal’s ruling not only sets a significant precedent in the field of state immunity and employment law, but also reaffirms the importance of respecting international legal principles. My thanks go to our exceptional team at Weightmans, whose expertise and dedication were instrumental in achieving this result for our client.”
