Diplomatic Immunity Criminal Justice

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Diplomatic immunity is a problem within the criminal justice system that needs to be corrected. It is being abused by those who have it and it is unfair to those who don’t have it. Diplomatic immunity limits the authority of police officers and judges when it comes to diplomats. Police officers and judges cannot treat diplomats the same way as they would everyone else.
The people that receive diplomatic immunity are embassy personnel, consular personnel, and international organization personnel. There are different levels of diplomatic immunity you can obtain. The highest is full immunity which means that the police cannot search or seize the individual’s property or house. Also, they cannot be prosecuted, subpoenaed to criminal court for …show more content…

Diplomatic immunity “refers to a principle of international law that limits the degree to which foreign government and international organization officials and employees are subject to the authority of police officers and judges in their country of assignment” (Kacou) . In other words, it refers to a limitation of the authority of police officers and judges when it comes to foreign and international government employees who are in their country for work. The police are not legally allowed to treat these government employees as they would treat others who enter their …show more content…

They directly support diplomatic actions and receive the same immunity from the police and criminal courts. However, they receive a lesser grade of immunity from civil courts. They can be sued in civil court; however, they cannot be sued for actions in relation to their official duties. This exception does not apply to their family members (Kacou).
The last category of embassy employees is those who indirectly support diplomatic activities. They receive the lowest level of immunity. They have immunity only for acts in relation to their embassy job. Their family members receive no immunity at all (Kacou).
The next type of people who receive diplomatic immunity is consular personnel. There are three types of consular personnel; the first one is consular officers. Consular personnel, in general, obtain less immunity than embassy personnel. Consular officers have immunity only for actions in relation to their official duty. They are fully exposed to criminal prosecution. The only exception is that they may only be detained in felony cases. Their belongings can be searched by police officers and they can also be sued like private citizens. They, however, are prohibited from participating in commercial or professional endeavors outside their official duties. Lastly, their family members have no immunity at all