If you broke the law in another country's embassy, then would be be subject to that country's laws?

Wonka

You couldn't be extradited because you are already in a foreign country. First you would need an exit visa. Since you would be a criminal then you couldn't get one.
Now since you can't leave, you'd need to file a request for assistance from your home land.

Since most embassies are usually bound by the host country's laws, by nobles oblige, you may be allowed to leave though.
Once you leave, as an alleged criminal in another land, you could then be formally charged and tried in absentia. Once found guilty, they always do that, then you would have to face extradition.

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your are subjected to the The Law of the Country being represented by the embassy.... because Embassies are technically considered as different territories...

marklemoore

If you were an American and you were at the American Embassy in whatever country and you did something illegal within that embassy, then you would be subject to the laws of the USA concerning trial and punishment. This scenario holds true for any country. If it was the Chinese Embassy and you were Chinese, then you would be subject to the laws of China, and so forth.

The grounds the embassy stands on are considered to be land of the country's embassy, not the country in which it resides. The grounds of the American Embassy in whatever country is considered to be American soil. If the American Embassy is in Germany, for example, and a German citizen was on its grounds and committed a crime, then they would be subject to trial and punishment in accordance to American law.

Editor

The National-Union believes that you'll be subject under the UN Charter and International Human Rights Law to make sure your rights are protected and the interpretation of their foreign law secured to end a cause of war, http://www.voteprimous.com

Peter M

Jim A

You'd be subject to the embassy's laws.

BUT if you did something that was only a crime in your own country, you might be able to be convicted in your home country for the crime committed "abroad". It depends on the geographical extent of the law.
Example - under English law it's illegal to conspire to commit crimes in other countries, even though by definition a conspiracy needs a crime to be intended.

Sir J

No. The Embassy is considered the ground (and country) of the owning country not the one in which it resides. You are subject to the laws of the Embassy's country.

ktray1275

you would be

Andy

It depends what crime was committed. Treason or (usually) tax evasion are prosecutable only in the country that was harmed. Theft or murder might -- depending on the respective laws -- be prosecuted in either or both countries. (Murder of a diplomat, and sometimes of any citizen, is typically a crime in the country of the diplomat/citizen's nationality; and it's also a crime where committed.)

Rape or battery or murder of a local national (for example) is probably prosecutable only in the country/state where the crime was committed.

Typical crimes committed in embassies are embezzlement and political protest involving property damage. The case of Mohammed Sacirbey http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Sacirbey , former Bosnian Ambassador to the UN (the mission was not an Embassy, but does have diplomatic status) is an example. His extradition from the USA is pending. He is a dual national of Bosnia and the USA. (A diplomat posted to Washington cannot be a US citizen but this rule seems not to apply to UN missions. The spouse of any diplomat may be a US citizen but does not get diplomatic immunity or tax exemption in that case.)

The immunity of a diplomat may be waived by his/her government to entitle the local country to prosecute: the case of Gueorgui Makharadze, is typical http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gueorgui_Makharadze (vehicular homicide by Georgian Deputy Chief of Mission to the USA, while drunk)

A better example for you might be that of Alfred Erdos, a US diplomat who murdered a colleague at the embasy in Malabo about 1970: http://www.uniset.ca/other/cs5/474F2d157.html . He was prosecuted in the US.

what did you do?????

Bill

Technically, embassy ground is considered the soil of the nation of embassage: Canadian embassy equals Canadian soil, etc.

Why do I say technically? Embassies are to promote good relations with the host nation. If I visit the Kamanawanalean embassy and I violate Kamanawanalean law by saying something disrespectful about Harry Belafonte's "Day-O" song, they COULD adhere to the letter of the law and try enforcing it.

Doubtful, though. Remember what they're there for. They'd probably just kick you out of the embassy. Hopefully as daylight come, when you wanna go home.

dognhorsemom

Well, this time even Andy is wrong. An embassy is not, not, not part of the sovereign territory of the country it represents. Diplomatic space is defined and protected under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, especially Article 22, which states:

"The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.

The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.

The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution. "

The Convention also protects the immunity of official representatives of the country whose embassy it is. However, the Convention says nothing about the host country being unable to prosecute its own citizens who happen to commit a crime on the premises. If the act is considered a crime only in the host country, it is still a crime and the person who committed it can be arrested and prosecuted. As you saw above, host country police may enter an embassy in order to arrest a local criminal, at the chief of mission's request: to keep thing tidy, however, they usually wait outside and nab the miscreant as he leaves, with the help and cooperation of the embassy's security officers.

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