International Law: Unchecked Immunity

Foreign diplomats in Washington piled up a total of 11,000 traffic tickets last year, an average of 100 per mission, with Russia topping the list. Not a single fine was paid. The tickets were all sent to an office in the State Department, where an official stamped CANCELED on them and dispatched them to the police in daily stacks. Reason for the wholesale ticket fixing: diplomatic immunity, the protective legal cloak that covers not only ambassadors but minor officials and even embassy employees from virtually all kinds of civil lawsuits and criminal...

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