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Legal Immunity
Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. Such legal immunity may be from criminal prosecution, or from civil liability (being subject of lawsuit), or both. The most notable forms of legal immunity are parliamentary immunity and witness immunity. One author has described legal immunity as "the obverse of a legal power":Dudley Knowles, Political Obligation: A Critical Introduction' (2009), p. 26. Criticism Legal immunities may be subject to criticism because they institute a separate standard of conduct for those who receive them. For example, as one author notes: Types Immunity of government leaders Many forms of immunity are granted to politician, government leaders to Reign, rule over the world, continent, nation, province, urban area and Rural, rural area without fear of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Status
Legal status describes the legal rights, duties and obligations of a person or Legal person, entity, or a subset of those rights and obligations. (defining "status") The term may be used to describe a person's legal condition with respect to personal rights, but excluding proprietary relations, such as their having the status of a spouse. It may also refer to legal capacity apart from other elements of personal status, such as the status of a Minor (law), minor, (defining "status") or the set of privilege (law), privileges, obligations, powers or restrictions that a person or entity receives through legislation.See, e.g., ''Recognition of unmarried cohabitation as a legal status worthy of protection'', 1 N.C. Family Law Practice § 1:5 The term may also refer to a person's legal condition as imposed by law but without consent, such as the status of an indentured servant when indentured servitude is enforced by law. Legal status may be something that arises solely by operation of l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles or duties that politicians must perform vary depending on the level of government they serve, whether Local government, local, national, or international. The ideological orientation that politicians adopt often stems from their previous experience, education, beliefs, the political parties they belong to, or public opinion. Politicians sometimes face many challenges and mistakes that may affect their credibility and ability to persuade. These mistakes include political corruption resulting from their misuse and exploitation of power to achieve their interests, which requires them to prioritize the public interest and develop long-term strategies. Challenges include how to keep up with the development of social media and confronting biase ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spousal Privilege
In common law, spousal privilege (also called marital privilege or husband-wife privilege) is a term used in the law of evidence to describe two separate privileges that apply to spouses: the spousal communications privilege and the spousal testimonial privilege. Both types of privilege are based on the policy of encouraging spousal harmony and preventing spouses from condemning, or being condemned by, their spouses: the spousal communications privilege or confidences privilege is a form of privileged communication that protects the contents of confidential communications between spouses during their marriage from testimonial disclosure, while spousal testimonial privilege (also called spousal incompetency and spousal immunity) protects the individual holding the privilege from being called to testify in proceedings relating to their spouse. However, in some countries, the spousal privileges have their roots in the legal fiction that a husband and wife were one person. Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amnesty Law
An amnesty law is any legislative, constitutional or executive arrangement that retroactively exempts a select group of people, usually military leaders and government leaders, from criminal liability for the crimes that they committed. More specifically, in the 'age of accountability', amnesty laws have come to be considered as granting impunity for the violation of human rights, including institutional measures that preclude the prosecution for such crimes and reprieve those crimes already convicted, avoiding any form of accountability. History Many countries have been plagued by revolutions, coups, and civil war. After such turmoil the leaders of the outgoing regime that want, or are forced, to restore democracy in their country are confronted with possible litigation regarding the " counterinsurgency" actions taken during their reign. It is not uncommon for people to make allegations of human rights abuse and crimes against humanity. To overcome the hazard of facing prosecuti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms; however, only documents that are legally binding on the parties are considered treaties under international law. Treaties may be bilateral (between two countries) or multilateral (involving more than two countries). Treaties are among the earliest manifestations of international relations; the first known example is a border agreement between the Sumer, Sumerian city-states of Lagash and Umma around 3100 BC. International agreements were used in some form by most major civilizations and became increasingly common and more sophisticated during the Early modern period, early modern era. The early 19th century saw developments in diplomacy, foreign policy, and international law reflected by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 Diplomacy is the main instrument of foreign policy which represents the broader goals and strategies that guide a state's interactions with the rest of the world. International Treaty, treaties, Executive agreement, agreements, alliances, and other manifestations of international relations are usually the result of diplomatic negotiations and processes. Diplomats may also help shape a state by advising government officials. Modern diplomatic methods, practices, and principles originated largely from 17th-century European customs. Beginning in the early 20th century, diplomacy became professionalized; the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, ratified by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Civil Servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service official, also known as a public servant or public employee, is a person employed in the public sector by a government department or agency for public sector undertakings. Civil servants work for central and local governments, and answer to the government, not a political party. The extent of civil servants of a state as part of the "civil service" varies from country to country. In the United Kingdom (UK), for instance, only Crown (national government) employees are referred to as "civil servants" whereas employees of local authorities (counties, cities and similar administrations) are generally referred to as "local government officers", who are considered public servants but not civil servants. Thus, in the UK, a civil servant is a public ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diplomatic Immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.Diplomatic and Consular Immunity: Guidance for Law Enforcement and Judicial Authorities U.S. Department of State, Office of Foreign Missions. It allows diplomats safe passage and freedom of travel in a host country, and affords almost total protection from local lawsuits and criminal prosecution. Diplomatic immunity is one of the oldest and most widespread practices in international relations; most civilizations since Ancient history, antiquity have granted some degree of special status to foreign envoys and messengers. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Absolute Immunity
In United States law, absolute immunity is a type of sovereign immunity for government officials that confers complete immunity from criminal prosecution and suits for damages, so long as officials are acting within the scope of their duties. The Supreme Court of the United States has consistently held that government officials deserve some type of immunity from lawsuits for damages,'' Harlow v. Fitzgerald'', 457 U.S. 800, 806 (1982). and that the common law recognized this immunity. The Court reasons that this immunity is necessary to protect public officials from excessive interference with their responsibilities and from "potentially disabling threats of liability." Absolute immunity contrasts with qualified immunity, which sometimes applies when certain officials may have violated constitutional rights or federal law. Types In the United States, absolute civil immunity applies to the following people and circumstances: * lawmakers engaged in the legislative process;'' Imbl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qualified Immunity
In the United States, qualified immunity is a legal principle of federal law that grants government officials performing discretionary (optional) functions immunity from lawsuits for damages unless the plaintiff shows that the official violated "clearly established statutory statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known". It is comparable to sovereign immunity, though it protects government employees rather than the government itself. It is less strict than absolute immunity, by protecting officials who "make reasonable but mistaken judgments about open legal questions", extending to "all [officials] but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law". Qualified immunity applies only to government officials in civil litigation, and does not protect the government itself from suits arising from officials' actions. The Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court first introduced the qualified immunity doctrine in Pierson v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judicial Immunity
Judicial immunity is a form of sovereign immunity, which protects judges and others employed by the judiciary from liability resulting from their judicial actions. It is intended to ensure that judges can make decisions free from improper influence exercised on them, contributing to the impartiality of the judiciary and the rule of law. In modern times, the main purpose of "judicial immunity s to shieldjudges from the suits of ordinary people", primarily litigants who may be dissatisfied with the outcome of a case decided by the judge. Though judges may be immune to suits, in many constitutional democracies judicial misconduct or bad personal behavior is not completely protected – total impunity is considered contrary to the rule of law. Depending on the jurisdiction, they may be criminally charged for courtroom behavior unrelated to the decision-making process (for example, by shooting someone and committing a murder) and judges may be removed. The method by which judges are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State Immunity
The doctrine and rules of state immunity concern the protection which a sovereign state, state is given from being sued in the courts of other states. The rules relate to legal proceedings in the courts of another state, not in a state's own courts. The rules developed at a time when it was thought to be an infringement of a state's sovereignty to bring proceedings against it or its officials in a foreign country. There is now a trend in various states towards substantial exceptions to the rule of immunity; in particular, a state can be sued when the dispute arises from a commercial transaction entered into by a state or some other "non-sovereign activity" of a state. The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property, which is not yet in force, would re-formulate and harmonise the rules and their exceptions. It does not cover criminal proceedings and it does not allow civil (e.g. financial) actions for human rights abuses against state agents ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
