criminal-law due-process official-immunity
Would Hitler have been protected by Sovereign Immunity?
<p>So, with all the talk of sovereign immunity lately due to the coronavirus lawsuits against the Chinese government, a thought occurred to me:</p>

<p>Would Hitler have been protected by sovereign immunity for his actions as Fuhrer, if he hadn't committed suicide in his bunker? If, after being captured by the Allies, would he have been able to argue in court that the charges against him should be dismissed because of sovereign immunity? Would such an argument have been successful, if it was heard in a fair court?</p>

<h2>Sovereign immunity is the wrong doctrine</h2>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity" rel="noreferrer">Sovereign immunity</a> relates to the inability of a sovereign or state to commit a legal wrong and immunity from civil or criminal liability. However, it applies to immunity under domestic law - Nazis were tried before Allied military tribunals. Hitler, had he survived would have been tried at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_trials" rel="noreferrer">Nuremburg</a> along with the other Nazi leaders.</p>

<h2>He could have argued <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunity_from_prosecution_(international_law)" rel="noreferrer">Immunity from Prosecution</a> under International law</h2>

<p>He would have failed as the other Nazi leaders did.</p>

<p>Immunity only relates to domestic crimes - international crimes like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity" rel="noreferrer">crimes against humanity</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime" rel="noreferrer">war crimes</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide" rel="noreferrer">genocide</a> are not so protected.</p>

<p>China has sovereign immunity, Germany has sovereign immunity. Xi Jinping doesn't have sovereign immunity, nor did Adolph Hitler. Sovereign immunity is something United States law gives to other countries, not the leaders of other countries.  This prevents most lawsuits against China from succeeding in the US. </p>

<p>On official visits, leaders of other countries are granted diplomatic immunity, but otherwise they can be convicted of crimes in the US.  For example, Manuel Noriega, the <em>de facto</em> ruler of Panama, was captured by US forces during the 1989 invasion of Panama and later convicted by a US court for various drug smuggling related crimes.  </p>

<p>However at the end of the World War II, the Nazi war criminals weren't being tried by US courts or for violating US law.  They were tried by an Allied military tribunal for violating international law and the law of war.  These tribunals didn't recognize any form of immunity.</p>
