In Person For the v Respondent — 2025

This was a public preliminary hearing on state immunity. The Claimant had presented claims of unfair dismissal and race discrimination on 28 April 2022 against the Kuwait Cultural Office. The Tribunal held that the correct Respondent was the Government of Kuwait, not the Kuwait Cultural Office, because the Claimant’s contract stated that he was employed by the Government of Kuwait.

The Tribunal found that the Kuwait Cultural Office formed part of the Kuwaiti diplomatic mission in the UK and performed functions including supporting Kuwaiti students, liaising with UK universities, and protecting the interests of Kuwait and its nationals. The Claimant’s duties as Director of Academic Affairs included negotiating with universities and providers, signing letters confirming scholarships and financial guarantees, approving leave requests, visiting universities, accompanying delegations, and contributing to hiring decisions. Applying the approach in Benkharbouche and later authorities, the Tribunal held that these functions were sufficiently close to the governmental functions of the mission and therefore amounted to an exercise of sovereign authority.

The Tribunal concluded that the Claimant’s employment was an act of sovereign authority and that the claims were barred by state immunity. It therefore held that it had no jurisdiction to consider either the unfair dismissal claim or the race discrimination claim, and both claims were dismissed.