Uncharted legal territory

Supreme Court grants Trump partial immunity

The verdict plays into Donald Trump's hands.(Bild: AP/Steve Helber)

The US Supreme Court has granted Donald Trump partial immunity from criminal prosecution. The ruling is likely to significantly complicate pending legal proceedings against the ex-president and leading candidate.

The Supreme Court judges ruled on Monday that this protection is absolute for former presidents with regard to their actions within the scope of their constitutional duties. However, a former head of state does not enjoy immunity for their actions in a private context, they said.

This is the first time in the almost 250-year history of the USA that the Supreme Court has granted the President a certain degree of protection from lawsuits.

The ruling

• "The President is not above the law," the ruling stated in general terms.
• It is true that the separation of powers requires that the president cannot be impeached for exercising his central duties prescribed by the constitution.
• Immunity must also generally be assumed in the first instance for official acts.
• "The president does not enjoy immunity for his unofficial acts," it continued. "And not everything the president does is official."

The background to this is a federal trial in connection with Trump's attempts to reverse his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. This is likely to further delay the start of a possible trial against Trump for attempted electoral fraud. This is because the actual proceedings have been sent back to a lower court. 

Uncharted legal territory
If the trial falls behind the date of the US election, the Republican could try to have the proceedings dropped if he is re-elected. If found guilty, he could try to pardon himself. However, constitutional lawyers disagree on whether this is even possible. The US president has never used this method for himself.

The former president faces three counts of conspiracy and one count of obstructing official proceedings, all related to his efforts to cling on to the presidency after his defeat in 2020.