Sovereign Immunity

Why do tribes have immunity from law suits?

Tribal governments exercise a form of governmental immunity that is comparable to the immunity of states, local governments and the federal government. Like the federal government, tribal governments retain limited immunity in order to protect government funds and discretionary governmental functions. Tribes provide for insurance and limited waivers of their sovereign immunity, taking responsibility for the actions of tribal employees. In dealing with the sovereign immunity issues, many tribes have already developed excellent risk management systems. These tribes have worked with insurance companies and their tribal court systems to provide a fair system for any person with a claim that they have been injured by an action of the tribal government.

A number of state governments continue to assert near complete immunity and can only be sued if consent is given by the state legislature. In contrast, many tribal governments provide much greater coverage than state and local governments do. Proposals to force tribes into waivers of their sovereign immunity would put Indian tribal governments at risk. Tribal councils and tribal courts would be subject to immense lawsuits, whether they acted or failed to act. No government could long operate under such a waiver of sovereign immunity.

Documents

• An Introduction to Sovereign Immunity for Federal, State and Tribal Governments
• NCAI Testimony, NCAI President, Senate Indian Affairs Committee Hearing on the Indian Tribal Conflict Resolution and Tort Claims and Risk Management Act of 1998 (S. 2097), 07/15/98
• NCAI Testimony, Senate Indian Affairs Oversight Hearing on Tribal Government Sovereign Immunity, 03/11/98

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