diplomatic immunity

Diplomatic immunity as an institution developed to allow for the maintenance of government relations, including during periods of difficulties and even armed conflict. When receiving diplomats � formally, representatives of the sovereign � the receiving head of state grants certain privileges and immunities to ensure that they may effectively carry out their duties, on the understanding that these will be provided on a reciprocal basis. Diplomatic immunity from local employment and labor law when employing staff from the host country has precipitated abuse. When the employer is a diplomat, the employees are in a legal limbo where the laws of neither the host country nor the diplomat's country are enforceable. Diplomatic immunity allows foreign representatives to work in host countries without fully understanding all the customs of that country. However, diplomats are still expected to respect and follow the laws and regulations of their host countries; immunity is not a license to commit crimes.

Diplomatic immunity is not meant to benefit individuals personally; it is meant to ensure that foreign officials can do their jobs. Under the concept of reciprocity, diplomats assigned to any country in the world benefit equally from diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic immunity, though it does give these representatives additional rights and protections that seem unreasonable, restricts the rights and abilities of corrupt governments to use these same diplomats as leverage on the international stage. The benefits of diplomatic immunity come from its reciprocity: Though we forfeit our right to prosecute a potential criminal in our own borders, our representatives around the world enjoy the same protections from what may be less 'just' governments. Diplomatic immunity is not an impenetrable shield against the laws of the land, but more of a courtesy extended to diplomats who cannot afford to be held up by minor traffic violations or other misdemeanors.