1 An exemption from a duty or penalty. 2A permanent status, as for a diplomat, exempting one from being sued or prosecuted for certain actions. 3A special status, granted by a prosecutor, exempting a witness from being prosecuted for the acts to which he or she testifies. sovereign immunity. The doctrine (subject to certain exceptions) that a government may not be sued in its own courts or in courts of another nation or level of government; many limitations on this doctrine apply and vary fro...