In Orascom Telecom v Chad [2008] EWHC 1841, the Commercial Court considered what was meant by the term "commercial purposes" in the State Immunity Act 1978 (the 1978 Act) for the purposes of enforcement. It also examined whether a state (in this case Chad) waived immunity from execution against its assets if it agreed to ICC arbitration.

Mr Justice Burton enforced the ICC award against Chad requiring money to be taken from one of its accounts holding World Bank repayments, on the grounds that this account was used for commercial purposes and Chad could not, therefore, claim immunity for the funds under the 1978 Act. However, he left open the question of whether subscribing to the ICC rules waived sovereign immunity.

The decision clarifies when a government bank account will be regarded as covering commercial purposes.