Diplomatic Immunity: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Citizens and Shareholders Rights and Remedies of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States ... on February 6, 1978 (Classic Reprint)

Senate Subcommittee ox Citizen s Rights and Remedies, Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9a.m., in room 2228, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum, chairman of tlie snbconunittee, presidino-. Staff present: Herman Schwartz, chief counsel; Richard Kait, minority counsel; Keith OD onnell, legislative counsel; Susan Kantor, legislative aide; Patricia Hoff, counsel to Senator Wallop; and Rhea Bruno, chief clerk. OPENING- STATEMENT OF HON. HOWAED M. METZENEAIJM, U.S. SENATOR FEOM THE STATE OF OHIO; CHAIRMAN OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES enator Metzenbaum. The subcommittee will come to order. Today we will hold the first of two hearings designed to give the broad issue of diplomatic immunit a full review, one that is long overdue. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will also hold hearings on this matter on February 21. We are concerned here with a law, originally passed in 1790, which gives more than 20,000 people associated with foreign embassies throughout the country, complete immunity from prosecution for laws which they may violate. This immunity, which is incorporated in 22 U.S.C. section 2.52, was originally designed almost two centuries ago to assist diplomats in effectively performing their duties in a foreign country and to protect them in the same manner in A vhich they would be protected in their home country. S ee p. 8-iof the appendix for a copy of the 1790 A ct. Unfortunately, this immunity from prosecution has led to a number of abuses, large and small. Today we will hear testimony about abuses and aliout a series of proposals that have been suggested to deal with this issue. Many of the current problems have arisen because present law fails to make many needed distinctions. In the first place, that law does not distinguish between those people associated with foreign offices
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)