Diplomatic and Consular Immunity
Guidance for Law Enforcement and Judicial Authorities, United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security
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What is Diplomatic Immunity?
Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are not subject to the jurisdiction of local courts and other authorities for both their official and, to a large extent, their personal activities.
The term diplomatic immunity is popularly, and erroneously, understood to refer to special protections afforded all employees of foreign governments who are present in the United States as official representatives of their home governments. Law enforcement offi cials, however, must have a more sophisticated understanding of the concept. There are over 100,000 representatives
of foreign governments, including dependents, in the United States. Many of these persons may be entitled to some degree of immunity under international law. Some of these persons are members of diplomatic missions, others are assigned to consular posts, and still others are employees of international organizations or members of national missions to such international organizations. For each of these categories of persons, particular rules apply and, even within these categories, diff erent levels of immunity may be accorded to different classes of persons. Most of these persons are assigned to Washington, D.C., and New York City, but large numbers are assigned in other major cities around the country. Moreover, nearly all of these persons are free to travel around the country either on offi cial business or for pleasure.
Legal and practical base of immunity
It should be emphasized that even at its highest level, diplomatic immunity does not exempt diplomatic officers from the obligation of conforming with national and local laws and regulations. Diplomatic immunity is not intended to serve as a license for persons to fl out the law and purposely avoid liability for their actions. The purpose of these privileges and immunities is not to benefit individuals but to ensure the efficient and effective performance of their official missions on behalf of their governments. This is a crucial point for law enforcement officers to understand in their dealings with foreign diplomatic and consular personnel. While police officers are obliged, under international customary and treaty law, to recognize the immunity of the envoy, they must not ignore or condone the commission of crimes. As is explained in greater detail below, adherence to police procedures in such cases is often essential in order for the United States to formulate appropriate measures through diplomatic channels to deal with such offenders
Diplomatic Agents
Diplomatic agent is the term for ambassadors and the other diplomatic officers who generally have the function of dealing directly with host country officials. This category enjoys the highest degree of privileges and immunities. They enjoy complete personal inviolability, which means that they may not be handcuffed (except in extraordinary circumstances), arrested, or detained; and neither their property (including vehicles) nor residences may be entered or searched.
Diplomatic agents also enjoy complete immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the host country’s courts and thus cannot be prosecuted no matter how serious the off ense unless their immunity is waived by the sending state (see discussion below). While it is not ordinarily of concern to police authorities, they also have immunity from civil suit except in four very limited circumstances: (a) in connection with real property transactions not conducted on behalf of the mission; (b) in connection with any role they may play as executor for or heir to an estate being distributed in the host country; (c) in connection with the performance of professional or commercial activities outside the scope of their offi cial duties; or (d) in respect of counterclaims on the same subject matter when they have been the initiating party in a suit. Finally, they enjoy complete immunity from the obligation to provide evidence as witnesses and cannot be required to testify even, for example, if they have been the victim of a crime.
It should be emphasized that even at its highest level, diplomatic immunity does not exempt diplomatic officers from the obligation of conforming with national and local laws and regulations. Diplomatic immunity is not intended to serve as a license for persons to flout the law and purposely avoid liability for their actions. The purpose of these privileges and immunities is not to benefit individuals but to ensure the efficient and effective performance of their official missions on behalf of their governments. This is a crucial point for law enforcement officers to understand in their dealings with foreign diplomatic and consular personnel.
Consular officers
Consular officers are those members of consular posts who are recognized by both the sending and the host country as fully authorized to perform the broad array of formal consular functions. They have only official acts or functional immunity in respect of both criminal and civil matters and their personal inviolability is quite limited. Consular officers may be arrested or detained pending trial only if the offense is a felony and that the arrest is made pursuant to a decision by a competent judicial authority (e.g., a warrant issued by an appropriate court). They can be prosecuted for misdemeanors, but remain at liberty pending trial or other disposition of charges. Property of consular officers is not inviolable. Consular officers are not obliged to provide evidence as witnesses in connection with matters involving their official duties, to produce official documents, or to provide expert witness testimony on the laws of the sending country. Absent a bilateral agreement, the family members of consular officers enjoy no personal inviolability and no jurisdictional immunity of any kind.
Waiver of Immunity
Diplomatic and consular immunity are not intended to benefit the individual; they are intended to benefit the mission of the foreign government or international organization. Thus an individual does not “own” his or her immunity and it may be waived, in whole or in part, by the mission member’s government. The U.S. Department of State will request a waiver of immunity in every case in which the prosecutor advises that he or she would prosecute but for immunity.
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Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961
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