THE SOCIO-POLITICAL, ECONOMICAL AND LEGAL VIEW OF ABUSE OF DIPLOMATIC PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Abstract
Diplomatic privileges and immunities are used to describe the protection a local jurisdiction offers a representative of a sending national government for serving in various capacities within the territory of the receiving state. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 made it clear that it is the responsibility of all persons privileged to enjoy these rights to give maximum respect to the guiding laws and regulations of the host state. There are many instances where immunities and privileges were abused. This paper analysed socio-political, economical and legal view of abuses of diplomatic privileges in Nigeria and the United States of America. Doctrinal approach was adopted for the study. It was library-based research. The primary data used were: Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) 1961, United States of America State Immunity Act, 1978, United Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 1976, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963, Nigerian Diplomatic Act 1962, Nigerian Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act, 2004. The secondary sources of materials included relevant published text books on the topic, scholarly peer-reviewed journals, articles, law reports and other relevant materials sourced in the internet. The work adopted power theory of social misery in addressing the problem of the study. The study discovered series of abuses in the practice of diplomatic privileges and immunities in both Nigeria and the United States of America which had caused socio-political, economical and legal setbacks for the two countries. The corrupt nature of the Nigerian system led to limited account of abuses in the ministry of external affairs, which indeed is an impalpable experience. The contents of the Convention are outdated and no longer suited the practice of diplomatic immunities in the 21st century. It is recommended that the United Nations should amend the Convention to meet the trend of development. More stringent measures should be made to govern or checkmate all diplomatic officials at the international and local levels to serve as deterrents to erring diplomatic officials.
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