Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments, which ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws (although they can be expelled). It was agreed as international law in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), though there is a much longer history in international law.

It is possible for the official's home country to waive immunity; this tends to only happen when the individual has committed a serious crime, unconnected with their diplomatic role (as opposed, to, say, allegations of spying), or has witnessed such a crime. Alternatively, the home country may prosecute the individual.

Contents

1 History 2 Abuse 3 Diplomatic immunity in the United States 4 See also 5 External links

History

The sanctity of diplomats has been observed for centuries. While there have been a number of cases where diplomats have been killed, this is normally viewed as a great breach of honour. Genghis Khan and the Mongols were well known for strongly insisting on the rights of diplomats, and they would often take horrific vengeance against any state that violated these rights.

Modern diplomatic immunity evolved parallel to the development of modern diplomacy. In the seventeenth century European diplomats realized that protection from prosecution was essential to doing their jobs and a set of rules evolved guaranteeing the rights of diplomats. These were still confined to Western Europe, and were closely tied to the prerogatives of nobility. Thus an emissary to the Ottoman Empire could expect to be arrested and imprisoned upon the outbreak of hostilities between their state and the empire. The French Revolution also disrupted this system as the revolutionary state and Napoleon imprisoned a number of diplomats accused of working against France.

In the nineteenth century the Congress of Vienna system reasserted the rights of diplomats, and they have been largely respected since then as the European model has spread throughout the world.

Abuse

In some occasions, diplomatic immunity leads to some unfortunate results; protected diplomats have violated laws (including those which would be violations at home as well) of the host country and that country has been essentially limited to informing the diplomat's nation that said the diplomat is no longer welcome (the Latin phrase is persona non grata). Such violations have included espionage in a large number of cases, smuggling of small high value items in a surely much larger number of instances, some troubling child custody law violations, rape and even murder in a few cases. Historically the problem of large debts run up by diplomats has caused many problems.

A particular problem with an intermittently amusing side is the immunity of diplomatic vehicles to ordinary traffic regulations such as prohibitions on double parking. Occasionally, such problems may take a most serious turn, when disregard for traffic rules leads to bodily harm or death.

• In New York City, the home of the United Nations Headquarters and a city in which many drivers regard double parking as normal despite regulations, protests against double-parked diplomatic vehicles have a certain quixotic quality. Nonetheless, the City eternally, and interminably, protests to the US Department of State about non-payment of parking tickets due to diplomatic status.
• In France, between November 2003 and 2004, there were 2,590 cases of diplomatic cars caught speeding by automatic radars. China alone had 155 violations. In comparison, there were 4,400 speeding violations by French official vehicles, such as police cars, an obviously much greater population than the Diplomatic Corps (Le Canard Enchaîné, March 16 2005).

In fiction, diplomatic immunity is often portrayed negatively with criminals with diplomatic papers brazenly committing the most violent crimes and arrogantly waving their immunity about when the heroes try to stop them. In fact, most professional diplomats are representatives of large, powerful nations with a tradition of professional civil service. They are expected to obey regulations governing their behaviour and they suffer strict internal consequences if they flout local laws. Diplomats who disobey minor regulations or break major laws, or disappear with bad debts are in a minority, and they usually come from small or poor or badly organized countries with no tradition of a professional diplomatic service or of a national civil service. In many of the richest and largest nations of the globe a professional diplomat's career is considered to be lost or to have been put automatically under a ceiling if he or she, (or even members of his or her family) disobeys the local authorities.

Diplomatic immunity in the United States

Note that the below applies to the United States. In other countries other rules may apply, though in most cases this summary is a reasonably accurate approximation.

Category		May be arrested or detained	Residence may be entered subject to ordinary procedures	May be issued traffic ticket	May be sub - poenaed as witness	May be prosecuted	Official family member
Diplomatic	Diplomatic agent	No1	No	Yes	No	No	Same as sponsor
	Member of administrative and technical staff	No1	No	Yes	No	No	Same as sponsor
	Service staff	Yes2	Yes	Yes	Yes	No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes2	No2
Consular	Career Consular Officers	Yes, if for a felony and pursuant to a warrant.2	Yes4	Yes	No, for official acts. Testimony may not be compelled in any case.	No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes3	No2
	Honorary consular officers	Yes	Yes	Yes	No, for official acts. Yes, in all other cases	No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes	No
	Consular employees	Yes2	Yes	Yes	No, for official acts. Yes, in all other cases	No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes2	No2
International organization	International Organization Staff3	Yes3	Yes3	Yes	No, for official acts. Yes, in all other cases	No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes3	No2
	Diplomatic - level staff of missions to international organizations	No1	No	Yes	No	No	Same as sponsor
	Support staff of missions to international organizations	Yes	Yes	Yes	No, for official acts. Yes, in all other cases	No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes	No

¹Reasonable constraints, however, may be applied in emergency circumstances involving self-defense, public safety, or the prevention of serious criminal acts.

²This table presents general rules. Particularly in the cases indicated, the employees of certain foreign countries may enjoy higher levels of privileges and immunities on the basis of special bilateral agreements.

³A small number of senior officers are entitled to be treated identically to "diplomatic agents".

⁴Note that consular residences are sometimes located within the official consular premises. In such cases, only the official office space is protected from police entry.

This chart is copied from the US State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security Web site, http://ds.state.gov/dipimmunities/dichart.pdf.

See also

• Diplomatic mission

External links

• New York City Commission for the United Nations Consular Corp and Protocol