HL Deb 18 April 1994 vol 554 cc4-6WA
Lord Brougham and Vaux

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many serious offences were allegedly committed in 1993 by persons entitled to diplomatic immunity; and how many foreign diplomats were withdrawn from their posts in Britain in the past year as a result of alleged offences.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

Twenty-nine alleged serious offences by persons entitled to

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Traffic offences1
(a) Drink/Driving 23 24 25 28 27 24 24 15 13
(b) Minor offences 87 71 86 103 75 53 45 30 31
Totals 110 95 111 131 102 77 69 45 44
Serious offences
1. Drink/Driving as (a) above 23 24 25 28 27 24 24 15 13
2. Theft/shoplifting 20 12 11 10 10 8 9 9 9
3. Others 9 5 4 6 3 1 7 9 7
Totals 52 41 40 44 40 33 40 33 29
Other minor offences 16 6 12 8 16 7 11 2 4
Parking2
Unpaid fines 59,625 22,337 14,437 10,079 7,831 6,551 5,145 4,166 1,941
Withdrawals
Diplomats withdrawn at FCO request 18 17 18 14 14 6 7 8 1 plus (1 pending)
1 NB Technically all traffic offences are "criminal" offences.
2 Pre-1985 White Paper: 1984 unpaid parking fines totalled 108,932.

diplomatic immunity were drawn to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1993. "Serious offences" are defined in accordance with the report to the Foreign Affairs Committee The Abuse of Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges (1985) as offences falling into the category which would in certain circumstances attract a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment or more. The majority involved drinking and driving, and shoplifting.

One diplomat was withdrawn from post in Britain as a result of alleged offences, compared with eight the previous year.