Diplomatic Immunity Mr. Greville Janner asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will initiate talks with Foreign Ministers of those countries which have acceded to the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, with a view to reconvening the United Nations conference on diplomatic intercourse and immunities to discuss amendments to the aforesaid convention which would tighten the loopholes and abuses of diplomatic immunity. Mr. Hurd No. The Vienna Convention is a relatively modern and well thought-out international law. Problems arise, not from the provisions of the convention but from its imperfect observance.A number of countries have proposed that the convention should be amended but they want to widen rather than restrict the immunities which the convention provides. These matters are being considered by the International Law Commission. Mr. Greville Janner asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will now introduce proposals to enable electronic surveillance of diplomatic baggage to be carried out. Mr. Hurd No. We are advised that electronic surveillance would not necessarily reveal a misuse of the diplomatic bag. Moreover, it is our view that although such surveillance is not specifically forbidden by article 7 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, to do so would be inconsistent with the status which that article accords to the diplomatic bag. Were we to learn of abuse of diplomatic bags in any way, we would take the necessary action. Mr. Greville Janner asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will publish a list of all the institutions and organisations to which the United Kingdom accords privileges and immunities. Mr. Hurd The diplomatic missions and those international organisations in the United Kingdom to which privileges and immunities are granted in accordance with international agreements are shown in the London Diplomatic List, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. To these should be added the Commonwealth agricultural bureaux which will be included in the next edition of the list.In addition, the United Kingdom is party to agreements with a number of other international organisations which are not based in this country. With the approval of Parliament, their officials and the representatives of the member States are accorded certain privileges and immunities when on official business in this country. Mr. Greville Janner asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will list the number of diplomats, the number of members of families of diplomats and the number of other persons with diplomatic immunity in each diplomatic commission currently represented in the United Kingdom. Mr. Hurd The number of diplomats and administrative and technical staff of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom is set out in the following list. It would involve a disproportionate effort to count the individual members of the families of the persons listed. It is estimated that their total number is approximately 15,700.-------------------------- | | -------------------------- |Afghanistan, Republic of| -------------------------- |Algeria | -------------------------- |Argentina, Republic of | -------------------------- |Australia | -------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Austria | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bahamas, Commonwealth of the | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bahrain, State of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bangladesh, People's Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Barbados | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Belgium | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Benin, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bolivia | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Botswana | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Brazil | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |(Argentine interests section) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bulgaria, People's Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Burma, Socialist Republic of the Union of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Burundi, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cameroon, United Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Canada | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Central African Republic (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Chad, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Chile | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |China, People's Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Colombia | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Congo, People's Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Costa Rica | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cuba, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cyprus | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Czechoslovakia, Socialist Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Denmark | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Djibouti, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Dominica, Commonwealth of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Dominican Republic | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Ecuador | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Egypt, Arab Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |E1 Salvador | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Equatorial Guinea, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Ethiopia, Provisional Military Government of Socialist | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Fiji | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Finland | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |France | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Gabon, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |The Gambia | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Germany, Federal Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |German Democratic Republic | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Ghana | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Greece | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Grenada | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Guinea, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Guyana | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Haiti, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Holy See | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Honduras | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Hungary, People's Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Iceland | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |India | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Indonesia | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Iran, Islamic Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Iraq, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Ireland, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Israel | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Italy | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Ivory Coast | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Jamaica | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Japan | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Kenya | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Kiribati (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Korea, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Kuwait, State of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Laos, People's Democratic Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Lebanon | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Lesotho, Kingdom of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Liberia, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Libya, People's Bureau of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya| ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ | | ------------------------------------------------ |Luxembourg | ------------------------------------------------ |Madagascar, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------ |Malawi, Republic | ------------------------------------------------ |Malayasia | ------------------------------------------------ |Mali, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------ |Malta | ------------------------------------------------ |Mauritania, Islamic Republic of (non-resident)| ------------------------------------------------ |Mauritius | ------------------------------------------------ |Mexico | ------------------------------------------------ |Mongolia, People's Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Morocco, Kingdom of | ------------------------------------------------ |Nepal | ------------------------------------------------ |Netherlands, The | ------------------------------------------------ |New Zealand | ------------------------------------------------ |Nicaragua | ------------------------------------------------ |Niger, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------ |Nigeria, Federal Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Norway | ------------------------------------------------ |Oman, Sultanate of | ------------------------------------------------ |Pakistan | ------------------------------------------------ |Panama, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Papua New Guinea | ------------------------------------------------ |Paraguay | ------------------------------------------------ |Peru | ------------------------------------------------ |Philippines | ------------------------------------------------ |Poland, People's Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Portugal | ------------------------------------------------ |Qatar, State of | ------------------------------------------------ |Romania, Socialist Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Rwanda, Republic of (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------ |Saint Lucia | ------------------------------------------------ |Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | ------------------------------------------------ |Saudi Arabia | ------------------------------------------------ |Senegal, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Sierra Leone | ------------------------------------------------ |Singapore, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Solomon Islands (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------ |Somali Democratic Republic | ------------------------------------------------ |South Africa, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Soviet Union | ------------------------------------------------ |Spain | ------------------------------------------------ |Sri Lanka | ------------------------------------------------ |Sudan, Democratic Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Swaziland, Kingdom of | ------------------------------------------------ |Sweden | ------------------------------------------------ |Switzerland | ------------------------------------------------ |Syrian Arab Republic | ------------------------------------------------ |Tanzania, United Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Thailand | ------------------------------------------------ |Togo | ------------------------------------------------ |Tonga | ------------------------------------------------ |Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Tunisia | ------------------------------------------------ |Turkey | ------------------------------------------------ |Uganda | ------------------------------------------------ |United Arab Emirates | ------------------------------------------------ |United States | ------------------------------------------------ |Upper Volta (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------ |Uruguay | ------------------------------------------------ |Vanuatu (non-resident) | ------------------------------------------------ |Venezuela | ------------------------------------------------ |Vietnam, Socialist Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Yemen Arab Republic | ------------------------------------------------ |Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Zaire, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Zambia, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Zimbabwe, Republic of | ------------------------------------------------ |Commonwealth Secretariat | ------------------------------------------------ |Total | ------------------------------------------------ Mr. Greville Janner asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make representations to those Governments who have ratified the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations but who either are known to have, or are suspected of having, abused the spirit or letter of the convention; and whether he will make a statement. Mr. Hurd Our practice is to make representations and if necessary to take the other action available to us under international law, when we consider there has been an infringement of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and of the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964. Mr. Greville Janner asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made by Her Majesty's Government to diplomatic missions accredited to the Court of St. James concerning their use and abuse of diplomatic privilege during the last year; to which missions representations were made; what was the nature of the abuse; and what was the response of each of the countries concerned. Mr. Hurd The details requested form part of confidential exchanges with diplomatic missions. We deal with such matters firmly.