§ Sir J. Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give a list of all the countries that provide reciprocal arrangements whereby British diplomats serving overseas can claim immunity over parking offences; and whether his Department has issued any instructions to British diplomats serving abroad that they should not utilise this privilege, but pay fines as would the citizens of the countries concerned.
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§ Lord BalnielThe immunity of British diplomats overseas from local criminal jurisdiction, which includes parking offences, rests on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, in the same way as does that of diplomats in this country. In practice, although no particular directive regarding parking fines has been issued to our missions overseas, we expect them to conform with the road traffic regulations in force in the country in which they are serving.