DIPLOMATIC PRIVILEGES (CITIZENS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND COLONIES) (AMENDMENT) ORDER 1967

HL Deb 31 January 1967 vol 279 cc914-6

4.3 p.m.

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS (LORD BESWICK) rose to move that the Draft Diplomatic Privileges (Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies) (Amendment) Order 1967, laid before the House on the 18th January 1967, be approved. The noble Lord said: My Lords, I beg to move that the Order standing in my name on the Order Paper be approved. Like the Order to which approval has just been given, this is a simple one. It does not make any alteration at all in the nature or degree of diplomatic privileges. It simply applies the existing law to certain newly independent Commonwealth countries.

I had the very agreeable duty last year of inviting this House to adopt legislation which established Singapore, Guyana, Lesotho, Botswana and Barbados as independent States within the Commonwealth of Nations. This Order applies to them and is really consequent upon those other Acts. It achieves its purpose by amending Article 2(2) of the 1964 Order which lists the Commonwealth countries to which Article 2(1) applies. The individuals affected by the present Order will be those who have dual citizenship, that is to say, citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, in addition to their citizenship of the sending State with whose mission they serve in this country.

I might add that the Order has been before the Special Orders Committee and they have reported that it is in accordance with precedent. The numbers actually involved must be quite small, but I am sure that, even though there are such a small number affected, provision must be made for them. Accordingly I invite the House to approve this Order. I beg to move.

Moved, That the Draft Diplomatic Privileges (Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies) (Amendment) Order 1967 laid before the House on the 18th January. 1967, he approved.—(Lord Beswick.)

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I am sure we are all grateful to the noble Lord for the clarity with which he has explained this Order. This is merely the latest one of a whole series of Orders of this kind, to which your Lordships are well accustomed, and it is clearly desirable that the Order should be approved.

LORD OGMORE

My Lords, I have no objection to the Order, but may I raise one point, for clarification? I notice that the Order applies to members of the diplomatic missions and to their private servants. How wide is the classification of private servants. Does it apply to domestic servants, part-time, in members' houses outside the Diplomatic building? Does it apply to the private servant when he is not actually engaged on the business of the High Commission, or looking after, or driving, or whatever it may be, the High Commissioner or one of his staff? We have always been a little concerned at extending diplomatic privilege too widely, and therefore I think it would be of some assurance to some of us if we had an answer to the question.

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, as I said earlier, the Order will apply only to those who have dual citizenship, so that is a very restrictive application in the first place. But within that application this particular Order will apply to those to whom we have agreed it should apply under Article 38 of the Vienna Convention. That Article states that, except in so far as additional privileges and immunities may be granted by the receiving State, persons who are members of diplomatic missions and are nationals of or permanently resident in that State shall enjoy such immunities only in respect of official acts performed in the exercise of their function. Private servants who are likewise nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State enjoy privileges and immunities only to the extent admitted by the receiving State. I hope that, with that restriction—that is to say, that in the first place the Order is a very narrow one, and that we have agreed, in addition, under the Vienna Convention, to further restrictions upon those to whom it applies, the noble Lord will be able to approve this Order.

On Question, Motion agreed to.