Legal Dictionary

immunity

Legal Definition of immunity

Noun

An exemption that a person (individual or corporate) enjoys from the normal operation of the law such as a legal duty or liability, either criminal or civil.

Example: Diplomats enjoy "diplomatic immunity" which means that they cannot be prosecuted for crimes committed during their tenure as diplomat. Another example of an immunity is where a witness agrees to testify only if the testimony cannot be used at some later date during a hearing against the witness.

Definition of immunity

Pronunciation

IPA: /ɪˈmjuːnəti/, SAMPA: /I"mju:n@ti/

Etymology

immunitas

Noun

immunity (countable and uncountable; plural immunities)

(uncountable) The state of being insusceptible to something; notably:
(medicine) Fully protective resistance against infection
(in law) An exemption from specified duties, such as payments or services

Feudal privileges often included tax and other immunities.
(in law) An exemption from prosecution

The prosecutor offered the lieutenant immunity for all the crimes he would testify having known to be planned by the elusive drug baron.
(countable) A resistance to a specific thing.

Further reading

Immunity from prosecution

Immunity from prosecution occurs when a prosecutor grants immunity, usually to a witness in exchange for testimony or production of other evidence. It is immunity because the prosecutor essentially agrees to never prosecute the crime that the witness might have committed in exchange for said evidence.

The prosecution may grant immunity in one of two forms. Transactional immunity (colloquially known as "blanket" or "total" immunity) completely protects the witness from future prosecution for crimes related to his or her testimony. "Use and derivative use" immunity only prevents the prosecution from using the witness' own testimony, or any evidence derived from the testimony, against him. However, should the prosecutor acquire evidence substantiating the supposed crime-independent of the witness's testimony-the witness may then be prosecuted for same.

While prosecutors at the state level may offer a witness either transactional or use immunity, at the federal level use immunity is the norm.

References:

Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.