jsted

Hopeful others are aware of this story. A US diplomats wife posted near some army base in the UK drove her car on the wrong side of the road hit a kid on his motorbike and sadly he died. A tragic accident but rather than facing justice she claimed 'diplomatic immunity' and fled the country.

The UK minister response is to call what the US did 'disappointing'. Are you kidding me? That the best you can offer. Now Boris says he will take it up with Donald but you really think he is going to force the coward to return to the UK and face the judicial process.

I remember a Guardian journo saying the UK is turning into a runt of a nation on the international stage and this kind of thing confirms it. Whenever the US wants to extradite someone from the UK they simply bundle him/her onto the first plane out of Blighty but when the boot is on the other foot no chance it seems!

materialcontroller

It stinks of course, and my sympathy lies with the family of the victim. The US will refuse to hand her over and the UK can't really do anything to force the issue. It will be smoothed over behind all the usual banal diplomatic niceties and nuanced language.

jsted

My issue is

a) is this what diplomatic immunity was designed for? The whole concept needs to be ditched

b) It shows what a joke of the country the UK has descended into on the international stage. Once a formidable empire now it really is becoming a tiny runt of a nation.

civilservant

International law has always recognized certain protected persons that you couldn't take action against - from the heralds that determined who won battles in the days of Agincourt to today.

Of course it stinks, but in order for diplomacy to work sometimes miscarriages of justice have happened.

Essentially, yes. It allowed diplomats to engage in activities that could otherwise potentially be crimes (such as conspiring against the government of a host country you didn't like) without fear of reprisal, so that the host country would have the same rights in another country that they didn't like.

jsted

Well if the boot was on the other foot and a UK diplomat did that in on US soil they wouldnt give a flying toss about diplomatic immunity or anything he/she would be banged to rights and rightly so!

I dont think spying or other such activities which maybe what immunity was designed for equates to killing someone through reckless driving and getting away with it. This is one way diplomacy and farcical.

civilservant

You're wrong. If the UK asserted the immunity and refused to waive it, the US would be able to do nothing. This is international law.

I seem to recall a US Diplomat killing 2 Pakistani citizens a few years back in what was claimed was self defense, and sure enough he left Pakistan unimpeded after the US asserted the immunity.

There are also multiple instances of UN ambassadors beating their wives and kids that didn't have a thing done to them. Not much the NYPD could do when the immunity was claimed.

Stupid? I daresay so. The law? Yes, absolutly.

scrubbedexpat091

Ask NYC how many people with immunity they have been able to prosecute for crimes committed by those with immunity. It's been a problem for years in NYC, and nothing the police or prosecutors can do, in some cases they have asked for immunity to be waived but have been turned down so unable to prosecute.

Canada has caught diplomats with slaves in Canada, and not able to prosecute them for anything.

18 or so years ago a Russian diplomat was driving drunk and killed a lady in Ottawa, Russia exerted immunity and he went back to Russia, Canada could never prosecute.

NYC a German diplomat beat his wife, and nothing police could do and he fled back to Germany.

Giantaxe

I also recall a case back when Bush Snr was president and a diplomat accused of rape in the UK left the country in similar circumstances.

SpoogleDrummer

Are you kidding me? I know of at least 3 people that have killed people with their cars due to them drinking or distracted driving and they've gotten off with a bit of a fine and a driving ban. The fact this accident probably happened due to habit or confusion makes me think there'd be no punishment at all in the US immunity or not.

robin1234

robin1234

civilservant

robin1234

lansbury

If you think British diplomats haven't done the same in similar circumstances, you would be sadly mistaken.

civilservant

Interestingly, there is specific reference to this in some of the articles I read. One country reneged on over 400k in rent that was unpaid and couldn't be collected on because of diplomatic immunity.