Diplomatic Immunity

In News 

The wife of Belgium’s ambassador to South Korea is exercising her diplomatic immunity to avoid charges for allegedly slapping a store assistant in April 2021.

About  Diplomatic Immunity

• It is a privilege of exemption from certain laws and taxes granted to diplomats by the country in which they are posted. 
• Diplomatic immunity is granted on the basis of two conventions, popularly called the Vienna Conventions that includes: 
  • the Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, and 
  • the Convention on Consular Relations, 1963. 
• They have been ratified by 187 countries, including South Korea. 

• The custom was formed so that diplomats can function without fear, threat or intimidation from the host country.

 Extent of Immunity

• According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, the immunity enjoyed by a diplomat posted in the embassy is “inviolable”. 
• The diplomat cannot be arrested or detained and his house will have the same inviolability and protection as the embassy.

Types 

• Immunity is not  the same for all diplomats and their families.
• The Vienna Convention classifies diplomats according to their posting in the embassy, consular or international organisations such as the UN.
  • A nation has only one embassy per foreign country, usually in the capital, but may have multiple consulate offices, generally in locations where many of its citizens live or visit.
    • Diplomats posted in an embassy get immunity, along with his or her family members.
    • While diplomats posted in consulates also get immunity, they can be prosecuted in case of serious crimes, that is, when a warrant is issued. 
      • Besides, their families don’t share that immunity.

Exceptions 

• It is possible for the diplomat’s home country to waive immunity but this can happen only when the individual has committed a ‘serious crime’, unconnected with their diplomatic role or has witnessed such a crime. 
• Alternatively, the home country may prosecute the individual.

 Concerns

• While diplomatic immunity is intended to “insulate” diplomats from harm, it does not insulate their countries from a bad reputation and a blow to bilateral ties. 
• The privilege of diplomatic immunity is not for an individual’s benefit. If a diplomat acts outside his business of conducting international relations, a question arises over whether his immunity still applies

 Instances of Immunity Abuse  In The Past

• In 1967, the Burmese ambassador to Sri Lanka shot his wife whom he suspected of having an affair. 
• In 1983, a Saudi Arabian diplomat’s son raped a 16-year-old in the US. 

• In April 2012, in Manila, Panamanian diplomat Erick Bairnals Shcks was accused of raping a 19-year-old Filipino woman, but was released from detention because he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

Source:IE