Definition

Noun: 1. A legal doctrine granting immunity from lawsuit: "Sovereign immunity" is a legal principle that a sovereign government (or state) cannot be sued in its own courts or in the courts of another jurisdiction without its consent. It is based on the historical concept that "the king can do no wrong." 2. An exemption from legal liability for the government: It is a specific type of exemption that prevents legal action from being brought against a government entity without its permission.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The court dismissed the case based on the principle of sovereign immunity.
  • The state invoked sovereign immunity to block the lawsuit.
  • A waiver of sovereign immunity is required before you can sue a federal agency.

Advanced Usage

• "Doctrine of sovereign immunity": This phrase explicitly refers to the legal rule or principle itself.
  • The doctrine of sovereign immunity has its roots in English common law.
• "Waiver of sovereign immunity": This refers to a government's act of consenting to be sued, thereby relinquishing its immunity in a specific instance or under certain conditions.
  • The Federal Tort Claims Act represents a congressional waiver of sovereign immunity for certain tort claims.

Variants and Related Words

• Sovereign (adj/n): Possessing supreme or ultimate power; a supreme ruler, especially a monarch.
  • The sovereign power of the state.
• Immunity (n): Protection or exemption from something, especially an obligation or penalty.
  • Diplomatic immunity.
• Governmental Immunity / State Immunity: Terms often used interchangeably or as specific subsets of sovereign immunity, sometimes referring to immunity at the state/provincial level versus the federal/national level.

Synonyms

• Crown immunity (primarily in Commonwealth jurisdictions)
• State immunity
• Government immunity

Related Phrases

• "The king can do no wrong" (rex non potest peccare): The historical maxim which is the foundational concept for the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
  • The principle of 'the king can do no wrong' evolved into the modern legal doctrine.

Noun

1. an exemption that precludes bringing a suit against the sovereign government without the government's consent
   • the doctrine of sovereign immunity originated with the maxim that the king can do no wrong