Dear Editor,
DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY is a principle of INTERNATIONAL LAW by which CERTAIN FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS are recognized as having LEGAL IMMUNITY from the jurisdiction of ANOTHER COUNTRY.
DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY allows DIPLOMATS and employees of international organizations to perform their OFFICIAL DUTIES without FEAR of criminal or civil suits.
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations is an international treaty that defines a framework for consular relations between sovereign states. It codifies many consular practices that originated from state customs and various bilateral agreements between states.
DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS are NOT POWERFUL . A Dip passport can keep you from getting arrested for committing a local crime, BUT you have to be a member of a FOREIGN MISSION to the HOST COUNTRY. You still have to GET A VISA to be admitted into the host country as a DIPLOMAT.
While the concept and custom are known to date back over 100,000 years, modern diplomatic immunity was codified by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations in 1961. Today, many of the principles of diplomatic immunity are treated as customary under international law. The stated purpose of diplomatic immunity is to facilitate safe passage of diplomats and promote amicable foreign relations between governments, particularly during times of disagreement or armed conflict.
The Vienna Convention, which has been agreed to by 187 countries, states that all “diplomatic agents” including “the members of the diplomatic staff, and of the administrative and technical staff and of the service staff of the mission” should be granted “immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State.” They are also granted immunity from civil lawsuits unless the case involves funds or property not related to diplomatic assignments.
Upon being FORMALLY RECOGNIZED by the HOSTING GOVERNMENT, FOREIGN DIPLOMATS are granted CERTAIN IMMUNITIES and PRIVILEGES based on the understanding that SIMILAR IMMUNITIES and PRIVILEGES will be granted on a RECIPROCAL BASIS.
Accept, the Renewed Assurances of My Highest Consideration.
Yours truly,
Professor/Ambassador/Author, Dr. Shamir Andrew Ally
Guyana’s SECOND AMBASSADOR to KUWAIT: 2016-2020.
