Template:Sovereign immunity and ultra vires: Difference between revisions

Don’t confuse [[sovereign immunity]] with {{t|ultra vires}} — cue thunder crack at the mention of Orange County]] or [[Hammersmith and Fulham council]] — for they are quite different things.  

*'''{{t|Ultra vires}}''': If it is beyond your powers or capacity to enter into a {{t|contract}} in the first place then it is void ''[[ab initio]]''; any payments you have made under that contract are also void and you may reclaim them<ref>But — quid pro quo, Clarice — any profits you have made you must disgorge.</ref>, and you can appeal to the court system to do that. That is to say [[ultra vires]] is an “intra-legal” measure recognised and enforced by the courts.

*'''{{t|Sovereign immunity}}''': Sovereign immunity is a different, “extra-legal” thing: it is to say “I am, quite literally, above the law: I ''am'' the law, and I do not have to subject myself to the judicial branch of my law — or anyone else’s law — unless I choose to.” This extends to being free from judicial intervention if I decide not to perform my contractual obligations, but it also means I cannot myself resort to the court process to make my counterparty perform ''its'' obligations. If I choose to go to court, then I subject myself fully to the courts as regards actions my counterparty wishes to bring against me.