§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many times and in connection with what offences each of the diplomatic missions accredited to the Court of St. James have claimed diplomatic privilege in each of the last five years for which records are available;
(2) in how many theft cases during each of the past five years diplomatic missions accredited to the Court of St. James have invoked diplomatic privilege;
(3) in how many cases involving violence during each of the past five years diplomatic missions accredited to the Court of St. James have invoked diplomatic privilege;
(4) in how many cases involving sexual offences during each of the past five years diplomatic missions accredited to the Court of St. James have invoked diplomatic privilege;
(5) in how many criminal cases other than those involving sex, violence or theft during each of the past five years diplomatic missions accredited to the Court of St. James have invoked diplomatic privilege.
§ Mr. JohnThe following tables shows the number of offences alleged to have 385W been committed in the years 1972–76 by persons entitled to diplomatic immunity where the possibility of criminal proceedings was not pursued in consequence of
OFFENCES ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN COMMITTED BY PERSONS ENTITLED TO DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Violence against the person … … … 1 4 1 3 3 Sexual offences … … … … … 2 — 3 1 2 Offences against the Theft Act 1968 … … 20 19 22 25 25 Road traffic offences* … … … … 222 208 227 225 248 Other offences … … … … … 11 8 8 5 2 TOTAL … … … … … 256 239 258 256 280 * Excluding those dealt with by fixed penalty notices.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Libyan diplomat involved in the recent rape case left Great Britain prior to, or after, the conclusion of police inquiries into that case.
§ Mr. JohnThe Libyan Ambassador has notified my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs that the appointment of the diplomat concerned was terminated with effect from 11th March. He is understood to have left the country on the same day, at which time police inquiries into the case had not been completed.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases involving parking violations each of the diplomatic missions
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FIXED PENALTY NOTICES CANCELLED ON GROUNDS OF DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY Number of notices cancelled 1972 1973 1974 January to May 1975 October to December 1975 1976 Afghanistan … … … 65 106 42 6 20 91 Algeria … … … … 73 116 149 73 51 322 Argentine Republic … … 423 466 780 297 262 1,092 Australia … … … … 33 39 93 37 17 69 Austria … … … … 23 37 31 12 37 84 Bahamas … … … … — — — 2 — 3 Bahrain … … … … 52 201 95 58 50 444 Bangladesh … … … 4 214 409 135 88 441 Barbados … … … … 210 491 458 80 127 403 Belgium … … … … 125 293 270 61 42 178 Bolivia … … … … 17 28 85 56 28 156 Botswana … … … … 1 5 5 5 2 23 Brazil … … … … — 412 493 167 141 1,200 Bulgaria … … … … 563 657 925 530 451 2,510 Burma … … … … 66 113 223 41 35 412 Cameroon … … … … 253 418 289 56 37 338 Canada … … … … 124 231 289 70 34 324 Chile … … … … — 236 199 102 50 287 China … … … … 18 35 138 113 52 333 Colombia … … … … 39 75 35 13 33 320 that entitlement. I do not think it would be appropriate to identify individual missions in relation to alleged offences not proved.
accredited to the Court of St. James have claimed diplomatic privilege during each of the last 10 periods of six months for which records are available.
§ Mr. JohnThe following table, compiled from provisional figures available from the Metropolitan Police, gives particulars of the total number of fixed penalty notices cancelled annually on grounds of diplomatic immunity for the years 1972 to 1976, except for the period June to September 1975 for which, because of a major revision of the Metropolitan Police computer system, figures broken down by diplomatic mission are not available. It is not possible to give a breakdown by diplomatic mission of the final annual figures derived from statistical returns from all police forces in England and Wales. This information cannot be given in six-monthly periods without disproportionate cost.
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Number of notices cancelled 1972 1973 1974 January to May 1975 October to December 1975 1976 Costa Rica … … … … 11 95 66 13 5 27 Cuba … … … … 1,747 2,163 2,708 1,246 755 4,571 Cyprus … … … … 1,185 2,069 2,191 748 655 3,807 Czechoslovakia … … … 63 144 175 66 42 183 Dahomey … … … … — — 11 1 7 5 Denmark … … … … 74 213 258 55 49 190 Dominican Republic … … 58 44 52 23 29 86 Ecuador … … … … 261 336 207 126 49 197 Egypt … … … … 1,318 2,008 1,651 532 607 4,923 El Salvador … … … 57 39 68 68 96 358 Ethiopia … … … … 247 281 222 38 42 84 Fiji … … … … … — 18 17 4 — 22 Finland … … … … 68 169 338 163 167 592 France … … … … 481 650 1,101 691 495 2,196 Gabon … … … … 14 62 99 41 76 253 Gambia … … … … 4 116 352 58 73 240 German Democratic Republic … — — 51 44 33 165 Germany, Federal Republic of … 135 166 260 71 51 315 Ghana … … … … 1,394 1,574 1,209 422 341 2,186 Greece … … … … 737 1,575 1,327 297 299 1,732 Grenada … … … … — — — — — 14 Guyana … … … … 104 277 255 53 14 107 Haiti … … … … 16 28 26 6 3 20 Honduras … … … … 74 239 88 37 38 67 Hungary … … … … 1,042 1,363 1,375 329 250 1,311 Iceland … … … … 12 12 7 7 13 40 India … … … … 456 511 485 106 86 449 Indonesia … … … … 578 677 646 265 198 2,060 Iran … … … … … 1,291 1,496 2,807 942 656 3,584 Iraq … … … … … 100 290 345 111 164 1,410 Ireland, Republic of … … … 136 152 99 51 38 181 Israel … … … … 170 599 954 387 222 861 Italy … … … … 145 217 301 130 102 469 Ivory Coast … … … 275 349 279 92 95 537 Jamaica … … … … 791 991 831 432 328 2,669 Japan … … … … 25 78 272 194 132 950 Jordan … … … … 307 516 504 243 235 1,391 Kenya … … … … 319 305 436 177 110 1,215 Khmer Republic … … … 17 23 47 14 — — Korea … … … … 632 1,217 1,047 368 352 1,032 Kuwait … … … … 420 925 886 307 183 2,274 Laos … … … … 4 13 20 3 4 9 Lebanon … … … … 91 90 169 91 37 305 Lesotho … … … … 8 12 44 26 33 156 Liberia … … … … 165 148 130 37 8 37 Libya … … … … 462 658 598 219 82 1,143 Luxembourg … … … 3 18 24 13 7 17 Malagasy Republic … … 212 535 377 117 23 — Malawi … … … … 175 288 118 65 36 204 Malaysia … … … … 521 1,041 1,160 344 264 1,531 Malta, Republic of … … 96 190 215 110 113 680 Mauritius … … … … 62 88 182 50 16 197 Mexico … … … … 306 398 363 225 190 474 Monaco … … … … — 1 — — — 4 Mongolia … … … … 7 25 30 2 10 42 Morocco … … … … 292 206 257 71 46 387 Nepal … … … … 1 9 11 7 7 47 Netherlands … … … 11 13 19 8 8 16 New Zealand … … … — — — 4 — 1 Nicaragua … … … … 3 31 68 14 5 57 Nigeria, Federal Republic of … 2,792 3,210 3,124 1,104 1,478 6,450 Norway … … … … 78 64 71 37 11 76 Oman … … … … 8 29 130 70 78 463 Pakistan … … … … 1,205 1,848 1,402 754 464 2,315 Panama … … … … 61 141 124 63 75 279 Paraguay … … … … 225 337 202 108 72 262 Peru … … … … 344 545 424 162 56 468 Philippines … … … … 33 54 155 45 27 118 Poland … … … … 548 858 1,549 483 268 3,148 Portugal … … … … 119 270 180 75 64 456
Number of notices cancelled 1972 1973 1974 January to May 1975 October to December 1975 1976 Qatar … … … … 12 115 336 205 195 1,710 Romania … … … … 85 253 341 185 232 846 Rwanda … … … … — 3 — — — — Saudi Arabia … … … 1,518 2,375 1,937 692 569 2,970 Senegal … … … … 156 192 190 22 50 300 Seychelles … … … … — — — — — 11 Sierra Leone … … … 298 546 614 358 182 1,663 Singapore … … … … 18 38 31 26 19 57 Somali Democratic Republic … 43 91 43 40 29 172 South Africa Republic of … 23 28 6 7 10 133 Soviet Union … … … 211 421 672 301 230 1,243 Spain … … … … 69 166 245 156 166 567 Sri Lanka … … … … 188 347 271 113 57 404 Swaziland … … … … — 15 60 17 23 203 Sweden … … … … 3 11 16 5 12 113 Switzerland … … … 34 53 33 25 15 41 Syrian Arab Republic … … — 14 139 76 22 547 Tanzania … … … … 82 259 389 196 151 626 Thailand … … … … 383 668 1,068 360 228 820 Tonga … … … … 1 1 7 4 1 9 Trinidad and Tobago … … 127 348 351 107 55 233 Tunisia … … … … 317 423 484 138 94 412 Turkey … … … … 1,207 1,070 1,052 320 181 1,046 Uganda … … … … 163 370 481 116 149 536* United Arab Emirates … … — 105 119 181 70 322 United States of America … 62 65 85 55 35 185 Uruguay … … … … 56 56 49 12 18 59 Venezuela … … … … 192 270 332 182 136 953 Vietnam … … … … 88 112 110 38 — — Yemen Arab Republic … … 65 259 282 57 53 307 Yemen, People's Democratic Republic … … … 17 23 82 25 35 322 Yugoslavia … … … … 794 1,304 967 432 345 1,658 Zaire … … … … 178 330 378 164 131 623 Zambia … … … … 521 695 858 307 181 1,168 Commonwealth Secretariat … 40 62 76 33 25 128 Eastern Caribbean Commission … — 5 — — — 1 EEC Commission … … … 5 15 6 3 2 13 International Cocoa Organisation — — — — — 6 International Coffee Organisation 8 64 49 43 35 85 Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation … 21 46 8 9 14 77 Western European Union … 13 22 13 1 — 31 United Nations … … … — — — 1 — 57 Totals … … … 31,892 48,798 52,839 20,398 16,106 92,985 * This figure relates to the period up to 28th July 1976 when diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Uganda were broken off.