sovereign immunity
Government's legal protection
Sovereign immunity is the legal doctrine that a government cannot be sued without its consent.
The principle descends from the idea that the monarch, as the source of law, could not be subject to lawsuits in his own courts.
In modern democracies, sovereign immunity has been partially waived by statutes allowing citizens to sue the government under specified conditions: The Federal Tort Claims Act limits sovereign immunity for certain negligence claims.
Without such waivers, individuals harmed by government action may have no legal remedy.
Civil court proceeding
- plaintiffCivil case initiator
- defendantParty facing charges
- damagesCompensation for injury
- remedyCurative treatment or fix
redress · injunction · liability · waiver · consent decree · judgment · appeal · dismissal
Courteous mutual regard
- public policyGovernment's societal problem-solving approach
- jurisprudencePhilosophy governing legal systems
- constitutional lawLegal principles from founding documents
- common lawJurisprudence from judicial decisions
Government's capacity to govern
- dominionAuthority to rule
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- jurisdictionLegal authority's scope
- authorityPower to enforce obedience
governmental authority · official capacity · police power · eminent domain · taxation · regulation · statecraft
lawsuit
Civil court proceeding
remedy · redress · injunction · liability · waiver · consent decree · judgment · appeal · dismissal · claim
comity
Courteous mutual regard
- public policyGovernment's societal problem-solving approach
- jurisprudencePhilosophy governing legal systems
- constitutional lawLegal principles from founding documents
state power
Government's capacity to govern
- dominionAuthority to rule
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- jurisdictionLegal authority's scope
authority · governmental authority · official capacity · police power · eminent domain · taxation · regulation · statecraft
sovereign immunitygovernmental accountability
Officials answering for decisions
legal accountability · civil liability · justiciability · actionability · personal liability
reign, immunity, sovereignty, sovereign, immunize, immunization, immunized, autoimmune, herd immunity