How can diplomatic immunity be waived

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. The only other sanction available to the Foreign Office would be to order their expulsion.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service , the immunity does not apply to dependants of consular officials based outside London. Contact us at letters time. World U. By Melissa Chan. Related Stories. Diplomat's Wife Suspected in Fatal U. Car Crash Returned to the U. Here's What to Know. Already a print subscriber? Go here to link your subscription. Need help? Visit our Help Center. Go here to connect your wallet.

Diplomats cannot be prosecuted or otherwise forced to appear in criminal court. Nor can they be sued in civil courts, except for their personal non-official involvement in certain commercial, real-estate, or inheritance-related matters, or for their separate professional activities. So, for example: An ambassador who is sued for failing to pay her personal home mortgage premium might lose title to her house but cannot be forced to pay damages and may not be evicted.

A second category of embassy personnel, the administrative and technical staff secretaries, for example who directly support diplomatic activities, enjoy the same immunity from police actions and criminal courts, but a lesser degree of immunity from civil courts. They can be sued like anyone else, except for acts performed in connection with their official function. No such exception applies to their family members. Accordingly, an embassy secretary who fails to pay his personal home mortgage premium could not only lose his title but also be sued for damages; though he may not be evicted.

Yet other embassy employees chauffeurs, for example , who only indirectly support diplomatic activities, enjoy the lowest degree of immunity. They have either criminal or civil immunity only for acts performed in connection with their embassy role. Their family members enjoy no immunity at all.

There are exceptions. In rare cases, both the second and third categories of embassy personnel above may enjoy as much immunity as diplomatic agents. But this happens only when the home country and the host country enter a special agreement or treaty for that purpose. Moreover, home country governments can waive diplomatic immunity. Finally, no immunity applies to embassy employees or the family members of such employees who are nationals or permanent residents of the host country.

Consular officers career consuls and other foreign government officials responsible for issuing travel documents, promoting commerce or tourism, and similar functions enjoy full immunity for acts performed in connection with their official function.

However, they are otherwise fully subject to criminal prosecution, except that they may be detained only in felony cases. No such exception applies to their family members, who enjoy no immunity at all. Their property can be searched by police officers.

They can also be sued like private citizens—although they are prohibited by international law from engaging in commercial or professional activities outside their official functions.

Consulates' administrative and technical staff are not prohibited from engaging in commercial or professional activities outside their official functions. However, they enjoy immunity only for acts performed in connection with their official functions. Other consular employees enjoy almost no immunity, except that they cannot be forced to appear as witnesses in U. Here again, there are exceptions. Consular personnel may acquire almost as much immunity as diplomatic agents based on a special treaty between their home country and their host country.