extraterritoriality
n. A theory in international law explaining diplomatic immunity on the basis that the premises of a foreign mission form a part of the territory of the sending state. This theory is not accepted in English law (thus a divorce granted in a foreign embassy in England is not obtained outside the British Isles for purposes of the Recognition of Divorces Act 1971). Diplomatic immunity is based either on the theory that the diplomatic mission personifies—and is entitled to the immunities of—the sending state or on the practical necessity of such immunity for diplomacy. |