"Appearing in State Supreme Court in the Bronx, one of Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers, Amit P. Mehta, told Justice Douglas E. McKeon that “Mr. Strauss-Kahn enjoyed the same kind of diplomatic immunity” given the secretary general of the United Nations, a member of the Russian consulate or a Chinese diplomat. Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers said in court papers that his status as the head of an international organization with a special relationship with the United Nations protected him from lawsuits, even those based upon “acts done in the executive’s personal capacity.”
But Douglas H. Wigdor, a lawyer for the housekeeper, Nafissatou Diallo, countered that immunity provisions in international law were meant not to protect individuals from wrongdoing, but only to allow diplomatic missions to function smoothly.
Amid questions from the justice, Mr. Mehta contended that protections included in the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1947, should be extended to Mr. Strauss-Kahn, even though the United States did not sign that accord.
The provisions of the special agencies convention, which are accepted by more than 100 nations, have the status of “customary international law,” Mr. Mehta argued, adding that the United States Supreme Court and the New York State Court of Appeals had recognized such laws even without a specific treaty signed by American authorities.
Although Mr. Strauss-Kahn had resigned his position of managing director at the International Monetary Fund by the time the civil lawsuit was filed, Mr. Mehta said immunity still applied.
At times, Judge McKeon seemed skeptical of the line of logic that Mr. Mehta was advancing. At one point he wondered why Mr. Strauss-Kahn had not made similar arguments while facing a criminal case."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/nyregion/strauss-kahn-seeks-to-dismiss-housekeepers-suit.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120329
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