Diplomatic Immunities

...It is out of this general immunity to civil and criminal law in the countries to which they are accredited that there has arisen that right or privilege of diplomats to the import of goods for their own use free of duty, or to the import of goods otherwise prohibited...

...and while the Chilean ambassador at Washington in a tart little release to the newspapers says that the embassy has heretofore made no comment as to the importation of alcoholic liquors, is making no comment now and will not "consider it necessary to issue any public statement should it decide to suspend the importation of liquor," the real point to the matter is that the possibility of suspending it is envisaged...

...I remember a case in a South American republic a score of years ago in which the accredited minister of a European nation imported eleven pianos in the course of less than two years...

...In the meantime, the British embassy in Washington has started a movement which will probably have more far-reaching results than even the ambassador himself contemplated...

...The eminent Secretary of State met the scandalous situation by the announcement that any diplomat found to be habitually violating such laws and regulations would promptly be brought to the attention of his government as a candidate for recall...

...July 17, 1929 THE COMMONWEAL 289 DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITIES By GEORGE E. ANDERSON IT IS not easy to distinguish between the comic and the tragic in the situation created in Washington by Sir Esme Howard, the British Ambassador...

...The tendency among nations, more than once voiced by responsible statesmen in the United States and other countries, toward a revision and restriction of diplomatic immunities and privileges more in accordance with modern conditions and the requirements of modern diplomatic life, is founded upon that increasing common sense in international relations which is the best guarantee that, in the course of time, a better system will be devised...

...It applies to his household including his "servants," domestic and otherwise, but especially to the secretaries of his mission...

...At all events it came to be a rule, partly of common international law and partly as a result of treaty stipulations, that diplomats in their official status should be free from all criminal and civil jurisdiction in the countries to which they are accredited...

...Astute bootleggers, of course, have not failed to take advantage of the situation, but the "real embassy stuff" which tempts the unwary mostly arrives by the synthetic route...

...No doubt he has been influenced in arriving at his decision to make no more requests of the government of the United States for the admission of alcoholic beverages for the use of his embassy, by the rather invidious position in which his country has been placed by the I'm Alone case and the smuggling of liquor from the British West Indies and Canada, as well as by certain other considerations...

...for it applies to his office and not to himself...

...While Elihu Root was Secretary of State—a period which 290 THE COMMONWEAL July 17, 1929 coincided with the rapid development of the automobile and the speed mania—the authorities of the District of Columbia and several neighboring states were continually embarrassed by diplomats of various hues and degrees disregarding the speed laws and traffic regulations...

...It is probable, however, that the rising tide of invective from some of the militant drys of Congress, and the agitation among dry circles in the country generally, have been the deciding factor, and herein lies the cause for anxiety on the part of other members of the diplomatic corps...

...There is a growing feeling among diplomats in Washington that this cordial relation with the American people, which is so essential to their success, can hardly be expected so long as they continue to exercise—one might almost say flaunt—certain personal rights and liberties which are denied the people of the United States themselves, and which—whether rightly or wrongly is not at issue—are in opposition to the laws of the land and to the sentiments of at least a large portion of the American people...

...The fact remains that it hardly seems necessary to import and serve alcoholic liquors to maintain a principle which, after all, is not seriously questioned...

...And it is naively added: It is not to be supposed that any representative of this country would intentionally avail himself of this right to evade just obligations...

...So far as the situation at Washington is concerned, there is little or nothing to indicate that there has been any serious abuse of diplomatic privileges in connection with the importation of wines and liquors...

...The instructions of the United States government to its own diplomatic representatives also declare: Neither can he waive his privilege except by the consent of his government...

...Such really is not the case even in a fiction of law, and the term is not to be confused with that "extraterritoriality" exercised by various nations at times in the jurisdiction over their own citizens in the territory of another nation...

...and he never returned to his post...

...The logical result of this principle was that they should be free from local and domestic restrictions...

...Accordingly, there is solid ground for the contention of many of the members of the diplomatic corps in Washington that they are in reality not demanding special privileges not accorded ordinary residents, but that they are upholding a principle of international law which is more important than any mere local or domestic law...

...Many of them have been founded upon other times and other conditions which have no counterpart in conditions of the present day...

...In any event he must be respected...

...Later it was found that he had been importing pianos for his nationals free of duty under diplomatic privileges...

...There is in the present situation a question of real importance from a diplomatic standpoint as well as from the standpoint of the national prohibition law...

...On the other hand no diplomat can divest himself of the privileges and immunities which are granted him under international law in this country except by the positive act of his own government and, to a certain extent at least, by cooperation on the part of the government of the United States...

...From time to time charges that embassy liquor was being more or less freely distributed have been bandied about in Congress and outside, but investigation has shown no serious breach of privilege...

...When the violators were interfered with they promptly claimed diplomatic immunity...

...Newspaper despatches report that President Portes Gil of Mexico has recently taken steps to restrict the use of alcoholic beverages in Mexico, and at a recent reception in Washington the Mexican embassy refrained from serving wines or liquors...

...Diplomatic immunities reach back into the dimness of the earliest intercourse existing between nations...

...Great Britain was among the first of the nations to include it in her statutes...

...Although, of course, Sir Esme speaks for himself and not for his government—much less for other governments which may be interested in the matter—there is enough of serious import behind what he has done to lead other diplomats, and perhaps their governments, to take action along the same line...

...When he departed for his home country on leave of absence dozens of launches followed his vessel to sea with whistles blowing and sirens shrieking...

...The only remedy a host nation has for a violation of its laws by members of a diplomatic mission has been in the recall of such representatives by their governments...

...Not only has the principle been established as a recognized rule of international law but it has been embodied, by implication at least, in treaties to which the United States is party...

...First of all the inviolability of the persons, property and suites of such representatives was recognized...

...Though this privilege rests on a somewhat different basis from the right of inviolability and freedom from criminal and civil law it is, nevertheless, fully as well established...

...It is essential to successful diplomacy that a diplomat maintain a high standing in the community in which he serves...

...If he wishes to serve his own country, he will seek to have a complete and sympathetic understanding of the people of the nation with which he establishes official relations...

...nor is it likely that any responsible diplomat, who alone has the right to ask for permits for importations of this sort, would knowingly lend himself to any such abuses, if for no other reason than the fact that detection would lead to his recall...

...This immunity from local jurisdiction extends to a diplomatic representative's person, his dwelling house and goods and to the archives of his mission...

...Nearly all nations limit by law the manner in which the privilege shall be exercised, and some nations limit the amount of personal effects which are allowed free importation...

...This representative was especially popular among the people of his nationality in the nation of his sojourn...

...There is no doubt that many of the privileges and immunities of diplomatic officers are no longer necessary or perhaps advisable...

...Upon the same principle, it was found convenient and even necessary that the same freedom from restrictions should be granted the ambassadors, ministers and other diplomatic representatives of such sovereigns, and these immunities in due time were extended to diplomatic representatives when they became more or less permanent residents of receiving nations...

...It was deemed utterly inconsistent with the idea of sovereignty that any sovereign should at any time or place be subject to the laws of another nation...

...From time to time there have been other cases of the sort, but the danger of recall has worked as an effective check...

...In Chile the government has embarked upon a campaign for the restriction of drinking...

...Practically all nations are prompt to raise question in cases where the amounts imported seem to be excessive, and although such cases usually are settled diplomatically, they are none the less promptly and effectively dealt with...

...Undoubtedly it is this feeling which has prompted the course of the diplomatic representative of His Britannic Majesty, and which lies at the bottom of the serious disturbance to diplomatic equanimity which that action has entailed...

...and this general freedom is embodied in a doctrine often erroneously referred to (as a result of a chance phrase of Grotius) as "extraterritoriality"—a convenient fiction that the "dwelling place and equipages" of a diplomatic representative are regarded as a portion of the territory of his own country...

...Liquor and motor cars have been the occasion of most discussion of the subject in the United States...

...It is with respect to minor officers, attaches and employees that there has been most of the tendency to restrict these immunities in recent years...

...This principle is not only recognized by all civilized nations but it is usually embodied in national laws...

...His action clearly affords an entering wedge for the abolishment of certain privileges of diplomats which already are subject to question...

...If possible he must be popular...

...In the United States it is provided by statute that a diplomatic representative possesses immunity from the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the country of his sojourn and cannot be sued, arrested or punished by the law of that country and severe penalities are provided against anyone who attempts to violate this immunity...