Diplomatic Immunity
by Grant V. McClanahan
Category: Diplomatic and consular service

In recent years there have been an increasing number of incidents involving diplomats, such as the storming of the US embassy in Tehran and taking of hostages, and the murder of a British policewoman by a member of the Lybian mission in London. Other less serious ones, like the flouting of traffic regulations and the non-prosecution of those stealing, have brought the question of immunity into the public domain. Why, it is asked, should law-abiding citizens put up with lawless behaviour from those who can retreat into the sanctuary of an embassy?