The solution so that Anne Sacoolas can be held accountable is for the United States to revoke Anne Sacoolas' diplomatic immunity so that Anne Sacoolas' status changes to an ordinary United States citizen or civilian so that surrender or Extradition can be carried out so that she can be prosecuted and tried in the English Court. This is because the authority to revoke immunity from diplomatic agents and other people who have immunity under the convention is the Sending State as explained in Article 32 of the 1961 Vienna Convention (Windy Lasut, 2016).

If the United States does not want to revoke Anne Sacoolas' status to become a civilian for extradition to England, then the United States must make a firm statement that the United States itself will prosecute by notifying England through diplomatic channels. This is because according to Article 31 paragraph 4, the immunity of diplomatic officials from the jurisdiction of the receiving state does not exempt them from the jurisdiction of the sending state. So the United States still has the right to prosecute Anne Sacoolas.

In addition, the UK as the receiving state also has the right to request accountability from the sending state in the form of a formal apology to ensure that the act is not repeated (Lastri Timor Jaya & Putu Tuni Caka Bawa Landra, 2017).

In this case, diplomatic officials and their families do have immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state, but it should be noted that diplomatic officials are obliged to always respect the laws of the receiving state as stated in the 1961 Vienna Convention in Article 41 paragraph 1 which states that without prejudice to the privileges and immunities of diplomatic officials and people who enjoy privileges and immunities are obliged to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state. So for violations of the law, accountability must still be requested.

References

Lasut, Windy. 2016. Revocation of Immunity Diplomatic in the Receiving Country According to the Vienna Convention 1961. Jurnal Lex Crimen VolV, No.4
Lastri Timor Jaya & Putu Tuni Caka Bawa Landra. 2017. Responsibility of the Sending State for Abuse of Authority by Diplomatic Officials. Journal of International Law FH Unud
Suryono Edy, Moenir, Arisoendha. 1986. Diplomatic Law, Immunity and Privileges. Angkasa: Bandung

*This article is the personal opinion of the author and does not represent the views of the Indonesian Legal Literacy editorial team.