Mr Emmerson says: "It's not unusual for states to take a positive approach to waiver if an incident is occurring in a foreign state on which they are on friendly relations and where they have trust in the courts system, to give an independent and impartial verdict.
Have there been diplomats who have committed serious crimes and have avoided going through the judicial process? Boris Johnson, when he was foreign secretary, admitted to parliament in that diplomats had used their immunity to avoid prosecution for offences such as child pornography and human trafficking.
Mr Emmerson says when crimes are serious, much depends on the attitude of the country which has the option of claiming or waiving the diplomat's immunity, but also on how a country's courts interpret the treaties governing it. But, he added: "One can imagine the situation where a British diplomat is arrested for a charge of murder or rape.
It's unlikely that the British government would assume that the diplomatic immunity was not to be waived. It would be very much an open question. If diplomatic immunity has been claimed, is there anything that can be done to overturn it?
Mr Emmerson says: "The question of when diplomatic immunity arises, is a question of degree and there are some borderline cases where it can be controversial. The whole inquiry is prohibited from the outset. Learn More About diplomatic immunity. Share diplomatic immunity Post the Definition of diplomatic immunity to Facebook Share the Definition of diplomatic immunity on Twitter.
Dictionary Entries Near diplomatic immunity diplomatic cover diplomatic immunity diplomatic pouch See More Nearby Entries. Statistics for diplomatic immunity Look-up Popularity. Style: MLA. Legal Definition of diplomatic immunity. Get Word of the Day daily email! In international law, diplomatic immunity is governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations VCDR , to which almost every state is a party.
In essence, a diplomat in post is completely immune from criminal proceedings, and almost completely immune from civil proceedings with exceptions not relevant here. This immunity extends to the family of the diplomat, so that Ms Sacoolas could not be prosecuted in the UK for as long as her husband held whatever position it was that entitled him to diplomatic immunity. Diplomats retain immunity forever for their official acts, but that condition obviously cannot apply to their families.
So if Ms Sacoolas were to return, she would only have immunity if her husband were still in post, and media reports suggest that he has also left the UK. But Mr Sacoolas was not a diplomat — neither he nor his wife was listed in the UK Diplomatic List of all foreign diplomatic staff in London.
But even if it did apply, the Act does not extend to family members. Another possibility is foreign state immunity, which would certainly confer immunity on Mr Sacoolas as a US government employee, but only for official acts and from some civil proceedings — not family members charged with criminal offences. But the ability to challenge such a grant is limited, one obstacle being s4 of the Act which says that a certificate issued by the Foreign Secretary is conclusive evidence that the person named is entitled to immunity.
It is the protection given under international and UK law to foreign diplomats and their families. It was formalised through the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations VCDR , which was incorporated into domestic law by the Diplomatic Privileges Act.
The reciprocal global agreements also protect UK diplomats working abroad. As well as covering diplomats and their families anywhere in the UK, the same convention and legislation prevents UK officials from entering diplomatic premises. That inviolability enabled Julian Assange to stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years. His embassy stay was not the longest: a Hungarian archbishop spent 15 years sheltering inside the US embassy in Budapest.
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