The UK’s obligations under the VCDR are implemented by the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 (UK). In international law, diplomatic immunity is governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 (VCDR), to which almost every state is a party. First, was Ms Sacoolas ever entitled to diplomatic immunity, and second, is it time to revisit the extent of that immunity? The incident, and the public reaction to it, raise two issues of particular interest. The rationale for immunity, for both diplomats and their families, is simple and fundamental: to protect the envoy from any interference in the performance of his or her functions.

In the latest news, the Foreign Secretary has confirmed that as Ms Sacoolas has left the UK, diplomatic immunity no longer applies, so there is no impediment to the criminal investigation proceeding – apart, of course, from the fact that she is not present in the country. This led to demands from many quarters, including by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that the US waive her immunity and return her to the UK for prosecution. She was questioned by police, but she returned to the US shortly afterwards.Ĭompounding the grief and dismay of Dunn’s family was the claim, apparently asserted by the UK Foreign Office, that Ms Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity and could not be prosecuted over the collision anyway. The driver was Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US government employee at the base. The car had just left RAF Croughton, a Royal Air Force base in Northamptonshire used by US forces. The facts, as reported by the UK media and based on witness accounts, are that on 27 August 2019, a car was being driven on the wrong side of the road and collided with a motorcycle ridden by Harry Dunn, a 19-year-old Briton.

The current diplomatic spat between the United Kingdom and the United States, following a fatal road accident involving the wife of a US “diplomat”, draws attention, yet again, to diplomatic immunity and its potential abuse.

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