Immunity from jurisdiction

Sovereign immunity and diplomatic immunity are the two principal exceptions to the exercise of territorial jurisdiction .Sovereign immunity refers to immunities enjoyed by foreign heads of state. Diplomatic immunity refers to the immunities enjoyed by their official representatives. State immunity par in parem non habit imperium-one cannot exercise authority over an equl .No state may exercise jurisdiction over another state without its consent. Traditionally a state was likewise immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of another state .States in the twentieth century ,however, became increasingly involved in commercial activities .Sovereign immunity placed state enterprises in a privileged position. A distinction was drawn between the public acts of a state (governmental acts )jure imperii and private acts jure gestionis. Immunity was granted in respect of jure imperii acts ,but not in respect of jure gestionis. The principle of absolute immunity was established in the case of parlement belge case in which complete immunity was granted to mail packet vessel to Belgian King. This principle was confirmed in subsequent cases (i.e) the porto Alexandra,The cristina etc. States started modifying state immunity approach ,the American government enacted an legislation namely American foreign soverign immunity Act of 1976,the act spells out the type ofacts which are commericial and those which are private.The decision whether or not soverign immunity is to accorded by courts rather than the US state department likewise state immunityAct 1982 enabled the UK to become a party to both the 1926 Brussels convention and the 1972 European convention on state immunity.

Diplomatic immunity Diplomatic relations exist only through the mutual consent of states.The establishment of diplomatic relations implies the recognition of an entity as a state by the recognising state. The customary law was codified in the 1961 Vienna convention on diplomatic Relations .Article 3 spells out the functions of a diplomatic mission as consisting of. I) II) Representing the sending state in the receiving state Protecting in the receiving state the interests of the sending and of its nationals. III) IV) Negotiating with the government of the receiving state. Promoting friendly relations between the sending and receiving state and developing their economic, cultural and scientific relations. Article 11 provides that in absence of specific agreement, the receiving state may require that the size of the mission be kept within reasonable limits. Article 22 further provides that premises of mission their furnishings and other property are immune from search, attachment and execution. Consular relations Consuls represent their state in another state, with the consent of the government .consuls are concerned not with political affirs, but rather with administrative issues, e.g issue of visas. consuls have the right to access and communication of nationals who have detained in another country. consular relations ,unlike diplomatic relations between states, were governed by bipartite agreements. The Vienna convention on consular relations was adopted in 1963 to regulate ,on a universal basis, the position and protection of consuls.

Special missions Special ad hoc missions sent by a state to fulfil a specify purpose in another state are recent innovation .A convention guaranteeing immunities to special missions was drawn up in 1969 convention ,under Art 8 of the 1969 Vienna convention ,the sending state must inform the host state of both the size and composition of the mission, while Art 17 provides that location of mission must be mutually agreed by the states. International organisations International organisations enjoy those privileges and immunities from the jurisdiction of a member state as are necessary for fulfilment of the organisation purpose. It may include tax benefit, immunity from legal process etc. The general convention gives immunity from the legal process, the property and the assets of the UN, and immunity from criminal jurisdiction for its representatives.