HC Deb 15 February 1991 vol 185 c609W
Mr. Lawrence

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what provisions control the circumstances in which entry to a foreign mission in the United Kingdom can be authorised in order to check for the presence of illegal arms or ammunition.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Article 22 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations provides that the premises of the mission shall be inviolable, and that the agents of the receiving state may not enter them except with consent of the head of mission.

The same article provides that the receiving state is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage.