Immunity

Immunity from the law is a legal status that makes a person essentially free from legal matters. Immunity may mean that a person does not have to be liable for damages or punished for crimes that they commit. Legal kinds of immunity include diplomatic immunity, parliamentary immunity, judicial immunity, and sovereign immunity, among others.

Diplomatic immunity is given to representatives of governments on foreign soil, such as ambassadors and others. There are several treaties involving diplomatic immunity between countries.  Diplomats in other countries found to be committing crimes will typically be deported, but they are immune from legal prosecution.  Diplomatic immunity is an agreed upon principle of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and in international law in general. In some cases a diplomat’s home country will not grant immunity to a diplomat involved in a serious crime.

Sovereign immunity means that a person who is a sovereign is above all authority and law. No legal procedures can be taken against a sovereign unless the sovereign is willing to waive their immunity. Some examples of a sovereign are a king, or other monarchical ruler and the federal government of the United States.  The US government may not be sued, therefore, unless it waives its rights. 

Judicial immunity covers a judge from being liable for any act that they do while acting as a judge. This prevents a suspected criminal from suing a judge for harassment during a trial, for example. A prosecutor who has prosecutorial immunity cannot be held liable for any act they may perform while they are at work as a prosecutor.

There is also something known as parliamentary immunity that works in a similar fashion to judicial and prosecutorial immunity.  Parliamentary immunity keeps elected government officials immune from prosecution while acting in their official capabilities. 

Criminals may be immune to prosecution by the law due do some statement or bit of information that they can give that would incriminate someone else in some greater crime.  For instance, a low-level drug dealer may be granted immunity if he or she is able to supply information which would lead to an arrest of their supplier. A criminal who has immunity from prosecution often testifies against someone else as part of their legal deal.

Immunity from the law is not a free pass to commit crimes, however. There are several instances where some person who thinks that they are immune to prosecution actually becomes convicted of serious crimes. Usually cases that involve such persons are very costly and time consuming. Cases against people who have immunity are often undertaken because of the obvious seriousness of the charges.