governmental immunity
Governmental Immunity is sometimes known as
sovereign immunity
, which in the United States, the
federal
,
state
, and
tribal governments
enjoy when it comes to
lawsuits
. For instance,
local municipality
and
city governments
generally enjoy some sort of
immunity
in
tort
lawsuits
. Although
sovereign immunity
and governmental immunity are often used interchangeably, there is a slight difference between the two terms.
Sovereign immunity
protects
sovereign states
and their
state officers
and
agencies
. On the other hand, governmental immunity provides immunity for subdivisions within the state, such as
city municipalities
. Additionally, the governments of foreign countries also enjoy a similar form of
immunity
known as state
immunity
from the
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
which protects foreign countries from
lawsuits
, except in instances concerning
commercial activities
in the United States. Nonetheless, there are some situations when governmental immunity can be waived.
Governmental immunity can be further classified into two major categories, which are
absolute immunity
and
qualified immunity
.
Absolute immunity
means that a government agent or actor cannot be sued for the illegal act, even if said agent or actor performed the action in bad faith or even maliciously.
Absolute immunity
is usually involved in circumstances that if challenged, it would drastically affect the government’s procedures and operations.
Qualified immunity
protects a government actor or agent from
liability
only when certain conditions are in place, which are usually specified in case law or statutes.
The idea of governmental immunity, and sovereign immunity, is derived from the English Common Law concept of
rex non potest peccare
which simply means that “the king can do no wrong.” The point of that concept was to protect the sovereign king.
[Last reviewed in July of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team ]
Wex