immunity Hear it!

immunity definition - legal

n

  1. An exemption from a duty or penalty.
  2. A permanent status, as for a diplomat, exempting one from being sued or prosecuted for certain actions.
  3. A special status, granted by a prosecutor, exempting a witness from being prosecuted for the acts to which he or she testifies.
sovereign immunity
The doctrine (subject to certain exceptions) that a government may not be sued in its own courts or in courts of another nation or level of government; many limitations on this doctrine apply and vary from state to state.  Sometimes referred to as governmental immunity.
transactional immunity
A grant of immunity to a witness by a prosecutor that exempts the witness from being prosecuted for the acts about which the witness will testify.
use immunity
A grant of immunity to a witness by a prosecutor, under which the prosecutor promises not to use the witnessÂ’ testimony against him or her, but reserves the right to prosecute the witness for the underlying action.

Webster's New World Law Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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