# Are diplomats really immune from parking tickets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797 "2009-03-17T20:29:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/1 "2009-03-17T20:29:44Z")
Supposedly diplomats, especially in New York City, are immune from parking tickets. That is, they don’t have to pay them, and therefore park as if the rules dont apply to the diplos (which perhaps they dont). Is this true, or just a myth? If I join the Foreign Service and get stationed in Capitol City, Foreign Country, I can just double park and jaywalk to my heart’s content, burning all my tickest while laughing? ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/2 "2009-03-17T20:38:22Z")
Does [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2228/whats-the-story-on-diplomatic-immunity)answer your question? > [@](#): > > To emphasize, under no circumstances is the diplomat free from all legal constraints: even if his host country can’t get him, his home country always can. For what it’s worth, when Arjen Rudd, the corrupt South African consul in Lethal Weapon 2, chuckles at Sergeant Riggs, “You couldn’t even issue me a traffic ticket,” we can see from the table that he’s wrong–even an ambassador can be issued a traffic ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/3 "2009-03-17T20:39:07Z")
Yes. [http://www.usc.edu/schools/business/FBE/seminars/papers/AE\_4-28-06\_FISMAN-parking.pdf](http://www.usc.edu/schools/business/FBE/seminars/papers/AE_4-28-06_FISMAN-parking.pdf) [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E1D8113CF931A25757C0A961958260](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E1D8113CF931A25757C0A961958260) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/4 "2009-03-17T21:11:45Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Does [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2228/whats-the-story-on-diplomatic-immunity)answer your question? Cecil doesn’t really understand, or at least, does not wholly explain Diplomatic Immunity and what it means here. DI is granted by the host country, and cannot generally be revoked retroactively. However, in extremem cases, a diplomatic can be prosecuted, usually by embarassing his (or maybe her) home country enough that they agree to let a prosecution happen and just ignore it. And in fact, anyone could ignore their own previously-issued DI; it’s jsut that the cure would be worse than the disease. In the case of auto citations, the problem is that the diplomats are under no obligation to get arund to paying, and many don’t. Frequently, these are not professionals, but connected third-world types with more money than sense, blowing their time on parties in New York. Whether the car is personal property or embassy property may also affect whether or not they get paid back, and on how much the home country cares about Mr. Idiot Diplomat. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/5 "2009-03-17T21:21:49Z")
There’s the related [ongoing argument](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/embassies-refuse-to-pay-capitals-congestion-charge-511556.html) in London about whether diplomats are subject to the congestion charge, whereby cars entering the centre of the city have to pay. The US Embassy has been the most prominant of the refusniks. In their case, they’ve been careful to emphasise that they do pay their parking fines as a matter of course. Their argument in the case of the congestion charge is that it’s a tax, rather than a fine, and hence they are exempt from it by international agreement. It’s not been a stand that particularly enamoured the US diplomatic service to the British press. But, equally, the then-Mayor Ken Livingstone saw an easy populist issue to beat the Bush government up over with. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/6 "2009-03-17T21:25:14Z")
Curious. Have any US diplomats attempted to get free Tube tickets, too? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/7 "2009-03-17T21:31:25Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > However, in extremem cases, a diplomatic can be prosecuted, usually by embarassing his (or maybe her) home country enough that they agree to let a prosecution happen and just ignore it. [Here’s a case](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2001/06/04/diplomat010604.html) where the sending country refused to waive diplomatic immunity for a misbehaving diplomat, but conducted an investigation in the host country (with the permission of the host country, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/8 "2009-03-17T21:51:19Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Cecil doesn’t really understand, or at least, does not wholly explain Diplomatic Immunity and what it means here. It’s **Bricker** , not Cecil. DI is granted by the host country, and cannot generally be revoked retroactively. However, in extremem cases, a diplomatic can be prosecuted, usually by embarassing his (or maybe her) home country enough that they agree to let a prosecution happen and just ignore it. And in fact, anyone could ignore their own previously-issued DI; it’s jsut that the cure would be worse than the disease. [/QUOTE] The immunity belongs to the home country, which may waive it for past offenses. \*\*Bricker \*\*covered that here: > [@](#): > > The home country may choose to waive immunity for one of its diplomats, leaving him open to prosecution by the host country. This was a lesson learned by Gueorgui Makharadze, the number-two ranking officer in the Republic of Georgia’s embassy in Washington. In January of 1997, Makharadze sped his car through the streets of the District of Columbia at up to 80 MPH, ultimately causing an accident that injured four people and killed a sixteen-year-old girl. He was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.15, 150% of DC’s then limit. Makharadze was released from custody because he was a diplomat, but the U.S. government asked the Georgian government to waive his immunity and they agreed. Makharadze was tried and convicted of manslaughter by the U.S. and sentenced to seven to twenty-one years in prison. [What’s the story on diplomatic immunity? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2228/whats-the-story-on-diplomatic-immunity) And see Article 32 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: > [@](#): > > 1. The immunity from jurisdiction of diplomatic agents and of persons > enjoying immunity under Article 37 may be waived by the sending State. > > 2. Waiver must always be express. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diplomats-really-immune-from-parking-tickets/489797/9 "2009-03-17T21:57:24Z")
You can read about more diplomatic hijinks in > **[Is there such a thing as a diplomatic pouch?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343377/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-diplomatic-pouch)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD > **[Straight Dope Staff Report: Are a country's foreign embassies an extension...](https://web.archive.org/web/20080201055957/http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/membassy.htm)** > > Straight Dope Staff Report: Are a country's foreign > embassies an extension of its territory? and in some threads: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341956&highlight=diplomatic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341956&highlight=diplomatic) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=400908&highlight=diplomatic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=400908&highlight=diplomatic) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=350495&highlight=diplomatic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=350495&highlight=diplomatic)