The diplomatic immunities and privileges between the internal and the external sovereignty of the states

Abstract EN

The question of diplomatic immunities and privileges has represented the most controversial subject in dealing with the sovereignty, security and independence of the state, as well as the issue of the international relations that are based on cooperation, peace and security among states.

The studies that have addressed this subject have been varied.

Yet most of them have limited themselves to the meaning of the diplomatic immunities and privileges regarding their source, legal foundation, the areas that they cover, and the persons included in them.

The researcher found scarcity or an absence of the studies that speak of the conflict of the internal and the international laws regarding this subject, and consequently, the knowledge concerning the degree of the supremacy among them.

The researcher, like others, has posed an important question : is there an absolute sovereignty for the state which cannot be challenged or restrained? Or is sovereignty a relative and limited one? Especially in respect of the external sovereignty that is imposed on the state so that it can live with the obligations of the international community, or relinquish part of this sovereignty.

And in order to examine this assumption and answer the queries around it, the researcher has adopted a group of the research methodologies, like the historical discourse, the systems approach, the theory of sovereignty and the legal course.

The research is divided into four parts : a theoretical framework, then the legal framework that spoke about the legal references for the diplomatic immunities and privileges, followed by the talk about the extensions of the diplomatic immunities and privileges, and finally the sovereignty of the state and the international law, and the position of these immunities within the contexts of the international law and the public law.