Headline-grabbing stories in recent years tell of diplomats getting away with everything from human trafficking to racking up tens of millions of pounds in unpaid parking tickets. However, the principle remains controversial, not least because it gives the impression that consular officials are allowed to operate above the law, free to abuse their power without check. The reasoning behind diplomatic immunity is that it prevents governments from persecuting foreign diplomats for political reasons, or prosecuting them for actions that would not be considered crimes in their home country. It is one of a host of protections contained in the international treaty, which also bars host governments from entering foreign embassies or reading their documents without permission. So who does diplomatic immunity protect - and does it give diplomats carte blanche to commit any crime? What is diplomatic immunity?Įnshrined by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomatic immunity means that diplomats serving abroad cannot be arrested or prosecuted in either civil or criminal courts in their host country. “The German tennis legend was named as a sport and culture attache to the European Union by the government of the conflict-torn African nation in April,” CNN reports.īecker, who was declared bankrupt last year, says the position is equivalent to a role as a military or trade attache, “which everyone recognises as attracting diplomatic immunity”.

Former tennis champion Boris Becker has claimed that his creditors cannot pursue him in court because he is entitled to diplomatic immunity as an attache for the Central African Republic.

Diplomatic immunity murder and treason