Inability of a person or entity to be held liable for a violation of the law
Not to be confused with Prosecutorial 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":[1]
A party has an immunity with respect to some action, object or status, if some other relevant party – in this context, another state or international agency, or citizen or group of citizens – has no (power) right to alter the party's legal standing in point of rights or duties in the specified respect. There is a wide range of legal immunities that may be invoked in the name of the right to rule. In international law, immunities may be created when states assert powers of derogation, as is permitted, for example, from the European Convention on Human Rights "in times of war or other public emergency." Equally familiar examples include the immunities against prosecution granted to representatives (MPs or councillors) and government officials in pursuit of their duties. Such legal immunities may be suspect as potential violations of the rule of law, or regarded as quite proper, as necessary protections for the officers of the state in the rightful pursuit of their duties.
^Dudley Knowles, Political Obligation: A Critical Introduction (2009), p. 26.
Legalimmunity, 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...
immunity is a legal principle of federal constitutional law that grants government officials performing discretionary (optional) functions immunity from...
United States is granted immunity for Official Acts taken as President. It is under legal dispute whether they also enjoy immunity from criminal liability...
Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal...
Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legalimmunity from the jurisdiction...
United States law, absolute immunity is a type of sovereign immunity for government officials that confers complete immunity from criminal prosecution and...
Witness immunity from prosecution occurs when a prosecutor grants immunity to a witness in exchange for testimony or production of other evidence. In the...
Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which political leadership position holders such as president, vice president...
Appeal overturned the High Court's dismissal of Juffali's immunity, but ruled that his immunity was not relevant to the divorce claim, which it allowed...
Judicial immunity is a form of sovereign immunity, which protects judges and others employed by the judiciary from liability resulting from their judicial...
rules of state immunity concern the protection which a state is given from being sued in the courts of other states. The rules relate to legal proceedings...
being immune from legal liability due to a special status Absolute immunity, a type of immunity for government officials that confers total immunity when...
the legality and legitimacy of amnesties in accordance with the multiple legal obligations faced by states undergoing conflict or political transition...
bankruptcy judge in the case from granting members of the Sackler family legalimmunity during the bankruptcy proceedings. The House Judicial Committee referred...
first two years of his administration, Zelenskyy oversaw the lifting of legalimmunity for members of parliament (the Verkhovna Rada), the country's response...
Parliamentary privilege is a legalimmunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal...
Total immunity is a form of legalimmunity that is all encompassing and may refer to: Absolute immunity, immunity for government officials that confers...
been the U.S. officer who convinced General Douglas MacArthur to grant legalimmunity to members of the infamous Japanese Unit 731 chemical warfare research...
enjoy sovereign immunity, also known as governmental immunity, from lawsuits. Local governments in most jurisdictions enjoy immunity from some forms of...
prime minister on ministerial appointments. It curtailed any president's immunity by making them liable to fundamental rights litigation on any official...
limited the charitable immunity doctrine. The doctrine has also been abandoned in Britain and Canada. The early form of charitable immunity in England did not...
Natasha Adams-Young, a key figure in the real case who was granted legalimmunity in exchange for her testimony in court. In 2007, Swain headlined the...
Malaysia were passed by the Malaysian parliament with the aim of removing legalimmunity of the royalty. The changes, which saw the amendments of Articles 32...
incident surrounding the Sultan eventually culminated in the removal of "legalimmunity" for members of the royal family. Sultan Iskandar is reputed to have...
up in dismissals based on legalimmunity. Paul Diamond, a district judge in Philadelphia, ruled that the company was immune from a lawsuit under the Communications...
Global Information