against lawsuits in civil cases, which do not involve prosecution. Singapore In Singapore, state immunities are codified in the State Immunity Act of 1979, which closely resembles the United Kingdom's State Immunity Act 1978. Singapore's State Immunity Act has phrases identical to that of Section 9 of United Kingdom's State Immunity Act, and does not allow a foreign state, which has agreed to submit a dispute to arbitration, to claim jurisdictional immunity in judicial proceedings relating to the agreed arbitration, i.e. "where a State has agreed in writing to submit a dispute which has arisen, or may arise, to arbitration, the state is not immune as respects proceedings in the courts in Singapore which relate to the arbitration". The President of Singapore does to a certain extent have sovereign immunity subjected to clause 22k(4). United Kingdom Immunity in proceedings Historically, the general rule in the United Kingdom has been that the Crown has never been liable to be prosecuted or proceeded against in either criminal or civil cases. The only means by which civil proceedings could be brought were: by way of petition of right, which was dependent on the grant of the royal fiat (i.e. permission); by suits against the Attorney General for a declaration; or by actions against ministers or government departments where an Act of Parliament had specifically provided that immunity be waived. The position was drastically altered by the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 which made the Crown (when acting as the government) liable as of right in proceedings where it was previously only liable by virtue of a grant of a fiat. With limited exceptions, this had the effect of allowing proceedings for tort and contract to be brought against the Crown. Proceedings to bring writs of mandamus and prohibition were always available against ministers, because their actions derive from the royal prerogative. Criminal proceedings are still prohibited from being brought against His Majesty's Government unless expressly permitted by the Crown Proceedings Act. As the Crown Proceedings Act only affected the law in respect of acts carried on by or on behalf of the British government, the monarch remains personally immune from criminal and civil actions. However, civil proceedings can, in theory, still be brought using the two original mechanisms outlined above – by petition of right or by suit against the Attorney General for a declaration. Other immunities The monarch is immune from arrest in