FOREIGN DIPLOMATS AND THE PROHIBITION LAWS

Notwithstanding the general and inclusive nature of the Eighteenth Amendment and of the enforcement legislation enacted under its terms, the executive departments of the national government have acted on the assumption that foreign diplomats are exempted from the operation of the prohibition laws, and have issued regulations by which the importation of liquor by members of this class is permitted. According to statements of the responsible officers concerned, this privilege is based upon "international comity and usage," and upon "the established principles of international Jaw and the statutes of the United States, including the provisions of sections 4063-4065 of the Revised Statutes of the United States." More specifically, foreign diplomatic agents are held to be exempted from the enforcement of the prohibition laws as a consequence of their custom exemptions, of their immunity from arrest, and of the exemption of their property from seizure, attachment, or distraint.