§ 2.35 p.m.
§ LORD VANSITTARTMy Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their attention has been drawn to the recent case of a driver from the Yugoslav Embassy who killed a man, claimed diplomatic immunity and got it; and whether full reciprocity is granted in Yugoslavia to every person employed by the British Embassy regardless of grade or category.]
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF READING)My Lords, the evidence given at the coroner's inquest into this unfortunate accident showed that the man in question fell from his motor-cycle while swerving to avoid a motor car driven by one of the chauffeurs at the Yugoslav Embassy. The car did not in fact touch him or his machine and a verdict of "accidental death" was returned. In view of these facts, I regret that the noble Lord should have framed the first part of his Question in the form in which it appears on the Order Paper. The name of the driver of the car is included in the list of persons officially regarded as entitled to claim diplomatic immunity, which is maintained in the Foreign Office under the Statute of Anne, but immunity was not, in fact, claimed by or on behalf of the driver at any time. On the instructions of the Yugoslav Ambassador, who gave every assistance in the investigation of the case, the driver, accompanied by an interpreter, attended the inquest but he was not called upon to give evidence.
As regards the second part of the noble Lord's Question, in Yugoslavia the immunity of the diplomatic staff of Her 1176 Majesty's Embassy at Belgrade is recognised, but no immunity is conceded to members of the non-diplomatic staff or to servants. The Diplomatic Immunities Restriction Bill, which will shortly come before your Lordships' House will, if enacted, make it possible for personal diplomatic immunity to be withdrawn from members of the staff of foreign diplomatic missions in London to the extent that it is not conceded to the staffs of Her Majesty's diplomatic missions abroad.
§ LORD VANSITTARTMy Lords, I am very much relieved by the Answer of the noble Marquess. I would add that I am still glad that I asked the Question, which was based on reports freely current in the Press. I hope that the Answer will now dissipate what might have been an extremely unfortunate misunderstanding.