Harry Dunn crash: What is diplomatic immunity?

Harry Dunn, 19, died after his motorbike was hit by a Volvo driven by Anne Sacoolas

US citizen Anne Sacoolas is not giving live evidence at the inquest into the death of motorcyclist Harry Dunn.

She was found guilty of causing his death by careless driving, and initially claimed diplomatic immunity after the crash in 2019.

What is diplomatic immunity?

Diplomatic immunity is a status reserved for foreign diplomats.

In theory, it means officials and their families cannot be arrested or prosecuted for any crime or civil case.

Although the concept dates back centuries, protection is granted under the 1961 Vienna Convention.

About 23,000 individuals in the UK are covered by it, as are diplomatic buildings including embassies, which police cannot enter without permission.

Julian Assange was able to stay in the Ecuadorian embassy until the ambassador allowed UK authorities to enter.

However, the convention also states that those entitled to immunity should obey the law.

Why did it apply in the Harry Dunn case?

At the time of Mr Dunn's death in August 2019, Anne Sacoolas was the wife of a US diplomat stationed at an RAF base in the UK.

A loophole in the law allowed Ms Sacoolas to claim immunity as the spouse of a consular official.

The UK and US governments subsequently agreed to amend the "anomaly" in the rules, although Washington refused to extradite Ms Sacoolas.

It is understood that Ms Sacoolas volunteered to be prosecuted.

She was charged with death by dangerous driving in December 2019.

Anne Sacoolas appearing via video link at her trial in September 2022

She pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of death by careless driving in October 2022, although she did not appear at the trial in person.

On 8 December, Ms Sacoolas was sentenced via video link to eight months' imprisonment - suspended for 12 months - and a year-long driving ban.

The judge said that the sentence cannot be enforced while Ms Sacoolas remains in the US.

Can diplomats lose immunity?

Yes. The Foreign Office (FCO) can ask a foreign government to waive immunity where it feels it is appropriate.

But the US government said this "rarely" happens.

In 1940, US Embassy clerk Tyler Kent was sentenced to five years in prison for sharing communications between Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt with Nazi Germany.

The US has also occasionally requested diplomatic immunity waivers for foreign officials working in America.

In 1997, Georgian diplomat Gueorgui Makharadze served three years in prison after causing a crash which killed a teenage girl in Washington DC.

Who else has immunity?

Diplomatic immunity is not restricted to diplomats and senior officials.

Drivers, cooks and other support staff who have been accredited to Britain have the same status, but the level of protection varies.

It ranges from "immunity from criminal and civil and administrative jurisdiction" to immunity "for official acts only", according to the CPS.

A number of foreign nationals in Britain attached to international organisations also have similar status.

The heads of UN agencies, for example, generally have the same level of immunity as diplomats.

When has it been applied?

Diplomatic immunity is intended to help officials do their job.

Host countries are required to "take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity", which in practice includes harassment from the police or security services.

However, critics claim some holders exploit the protection.

In 2018, there were three serious offences allegedly committed by people entitled to diplomatic immunity in the UK, all driving-related.

Many diplomats have also avoided paying the London Congestion Charge. As of 2020, they owed over £116m in charges, according to the FCO.

In 2018, tennis player Boris Becker claimed diplomatic immunity against an attempt to sue him.

He said he was protected because of his appointment by the Central African Republic (CAR) as a sport and culture attaché to the EU, although he later dropped the claim.

A number of other individuals have also claimed diplomatic immunity through CAR connections, including Indian and Kazakh businessmen, as well as a former adviser to the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

PC Yvonne Fletcher was killed by gunfire from the window of the Libyan embassy

Diplomatic immunity was also key in the case of of Met PC Yvonne Fletcher, who died policing a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984.

She was hit by gunfire from a first-floor embassy window. After an 11-day siege, the UK government arranged for the deportation of a number of Libyan diplomats.

But diplomatic immunity meant the police could not search the bags of the diplomats and staff being deported.

In 2021, her former colleague John Murray, successfully brought a civil case against a Libyan man, Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk, who was found jointly liable for her death.