Can a US citizen be sued in the USA by a foreign national, having been charged with a crime in another country from which they have escaped facing trial by claiming diplomatic immunity?

TIA.

Asking for a friend, right?

I doubt it. Having said that, it could be done if some arcane law is on the books here.

I assume you are talking about that "driving" incident that took place there.

Kind of like an American breaking the law in Germany and being sued in the USA for it.

Does not seem reasonable to me, but a lot of what is in our legal system does not pass the "reasonable" test.

As far as I am concerned, that woman should be extradited back over there and put on trial.

I'm no expert in international law and you're also dealing with various treaties which may come into play depending on the players, the states, and the crimes involved, but...

Generally, I'm going to say no. Reason being, a US Court is going to be hard-pressed to find personal or subject matter jurisdiction over an act committed on foreign soil.

Exceptions could include violations of certain international laws recognized by the US or acts committed by a person under the direct and immediate authority of the United States government even if not within the boundaries of the United States at the time (i.e., military personnel).

I honestly have no idea if US Courts could reach US diplomats at home for crimes committed abroad, but the State Department can certainly waive a diplomat's immunity at any time.

-Rob

Theoretically, yes.

First, they could sue in the British jurisdiction where the injury took place utilizing what is called "long arm" jurisdiction to obtain service on the American citizen.

Second, they could sue in America in the jurisdiction where the American citizen is located.

ETA: Burton RW is a litigator, and I am not, so he is much closer to this than I am. I am going off my now 28 year old experience as an Army lawyer in Germany, and making a couple of guesses. He is right, that there would be treaty implications, and without a treaty, it may well be impossible.

Thank you, Gentlemen, for your responses. I've learned enough not to pursue this thread any further. I'm grateful to you all.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Can a US citizen be sued in the USA by a foreign national, having been charged with a crime in another country from which they have escaped facing trial by claiming diplomatic immunity?

TIA.

If this is related to what I suspect it is I sure as hell hope so

The aggrieved party would have to sue in GB courts where they have standing.

All I know about diplomatic immunity I learned from Lethal Weapon 2.

That being said, can someone smarter than me tell me why it exists?

I can see it for diplomats, but why their families?

Sued for what?

An American court would have jurisdiction over the American citizen.

But BurtonRW is right, the court may not have subject matter jurisdiction over an act committed elsewhere. As usual, there are exceptions.

And I don't know how the immunity question comes out.

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
All I know about diplomatic immunity I learned from Lethal Weapon 2.

That being said, can someone smarter than me tell me why it exists?

I can see it for diplomats, but why their families?

So that governments can't use the threat of prosecution to unduly influence foreign officials. While civilized countries would NEVER do such a thing, some less scrupulous countries might trump up a charge against the ambassador's daughter to gain advantage.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Can a US citizen be sued in the USA by a foreign national, having been charged with a crime in another country from which they have escaped facing trial by claiming diplomatic immunity?

TIA.

If this is related to what I suspect it is I sure as hell hope so

Yeah! me too!

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
All I know about diplomatic immunity I learned from Lethal Weapon 2.

That being said, can someone smarter than me tell me why it exists?

I can see it for diplomats, but why their families?

To avoid having host countries hold family members hostage in order to influence the diplomat.

This dates back centuries, when families were first being posted with diplomats because of the distances involved.

One thing to remember, your nation can revoke your diplomatic immunity at any time. The Uzbekistan (IIIRC) embassy revoked a drunk driving diplomat's immunity after he killed three pedestrians in DC. He was convicted here, served time there.

I think a more relevant question is: Can she be extradited? I think the answer is “yes”. Ought to be, anyway.

the op said something about " diplomatic immunity". IIRC can be revoked by the country that is the host of said "diplomatic immunity". usually the host country has to be under some type of external pressure or publicity to revoke...... drill sgt.

If this is more relevant, than curiosity, I have a cousin who does international litigation. If I remember, I’ll ask him about it, the next time I see him, but I won’t bother him, unless someone needs counsel.

Why? What did you do?

quote:

Originally posted by zipriderson:
Asking for a friend, right?

Not at all. I don't know the American citizen who caused the death of a 19-y/o by and used her husband's diplomatic immunity to flee the country before she could be tried for 'causing death by dangerous driving', which is the charge.

Your government has meanwhile refused extradition so that she can face the trial here in UK.

I heard about this. Bitch should be on a plane.

AFAIK and can remember, Diplomatic Immunity prevents EXECUTION in the host country, not taking action in Court.

With a local claim, you should be able to pursue the matter and execution in the country where the "diplomat" fled to,since there he/she is just a regular Joe/Jane with no immunity. This works if the claim is valid and also punishable in that country.

That´s the general idea. How it works in practical terms is a mystery to me.

Note that if you do bring the matter to the court in the other party´s country and he/she is a career diplomat it will be a serious turd in his/her file. By the Whatever International Convention/Agreement (too many years since i graduated), diplomats are sworn to respect the law of the host country.

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