Sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity, also called crown immunity, is the legal principle that a sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and, at least in its own courts, is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution, a doctrine historically expressed in the maxim that the king can do no wrong. Its foundation lies in the classical idea of sovereignty, under which a sovereign could not be made subject to another authority's jurisdiction without its own consent, a difficulty compounded in constitutional monarchies where the courts themselves derive their authority from the sovereign. The doctrine takes two main forms, immunity from suit, which prevents a sovereign from being made a defendant at all, and immunity from enforcement, which prevents collection of a judgment even where one is obtained, though separation of powers principles, natural justice, and statutes that expressly bind the state have created broad exceptions to both.