ABSTRACT
I. IMMUNITAS Latin; immunis (adj.), immunitas (n.): exemp(tion) free(dom) from cost, burden, tax, obligation.
Original usage of term pertained to the inferior Roman class of plebeians, artisans, and foreign traders who-deprived of religious, civil, and political rights and advantages of
the patrician gentes-were immune to taxation, compulsory military service, and civic obligations and functions. After 294 B.C., with the transition of the monarchy to the Roman Republic, immunitas defined special privileges (e.g., exemptions from compulsory military service and taxation granted by the Roman Senate to sophists, philosophers, teachers, and public physicians). In later years, common use of the Anglicized descriptor immunity continued to have legal relevance. Into the Middle Ages, Church property and clergy were granted immunity from civil taxes. In 1689, the English Bill of Rights fonnalized Parliamentary immunity protecting members of the British Parliament from liability for statements made during debates on the floor. In France, a century later, a 1790 law prevented arrests of a member of the legislature during periods of legislative sessions without specific authorization of the accused member's chamber.
