Diplomatic immunity

[Jonathan Buhacoff]

Proposal:

We must reject the concept of diplomatic immunity. We must demand that everyone must follow the country’s laws when present in the country, regardless of their nationality. We must expect that diplomats would be even more sensitive to this because their behavior is part of the relationship.

Instead of diplomatic immunity, we should enact a law that authorizes the federal government to deport a convicted diplomat back to their home country and demand reparations from their home country. Furthermore, any convicted diplomat who was deported must not be allowed to re-enter the country, unless the individual agrees, as a condition of re-entry, to serving their full original sentence immediately upon re-entry, after which they will be free to return home or stay here for the duration of their authorized stay.

The sentence may itself include a monetary penalty, depending on the crime. This would be separate from any reparations demand that the government makes.

Discussion:

The narrow scope of this law, applicable only to a convicted diplomat, means that the justice system must first do its work to hold a fair trial. The authorization to deport, instead of the obligation to deport, means that if the foreign country agrees for the convicted diplomat to serve the normal sentence here, then it can be done that way, but if the foreign country does not agree with the sentencing then we can return the convicted diplomat to them.

The executive branch should attempt to negotiate reparations with the home country separately from the sentencing for the crime. The proposal authorizes — but does not mandate — the government to make a reparations demand because the executive branch needs the flexibility conduct diplomacy to meet the needs of the moment. Notably, the reparations demand must be separate from the sentence (which may itself include monetary penalties) and separate from the return of the diplomat, because attempting to negotiate reparations in exchange for the return of a person can be viewed as a form of extortion, and we should give the executive branch flexibility to avoid this perception. Reparations can always be included in any future negotiation about any other topic, and the executive branch should have the flexibility to do this.

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