DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR PRIVILEGES ACT, 1972.
DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR PRIVILEGES ACT, 1972.
Last Updated: 19720910
Contents
PREAMBLE. .
1 SHORT TITLE, EXTENT AND COMMENCEMENT
2 PROVISIONS OF CONVENTIONS TO HAVE FORCE OF LAW
3 RESTRICTION OF PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES
4 CERTIFICATE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
5 POWER TO AMEND SCHEDULES
6 REPEAL
FIRST SCHEDULE. .
FIRST SCHEDULE. .
THE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR PRIVILEGES ACT, 1972. 1ACT NO. IX OF 1972
[10th September, 1972]
An Act to give effect in Pakistan to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963.
WHEREAS Pakistan has acceded to the Vienna Convention on diplomatic Relations, 1961, and the Vienna Convention on consular Relations, 1963 ;
AND WHEREAS it is necessary to give effect in Pakistan to the said Vienna Conventions ;
It is hereby enacted as follows :___
1. Short title, extent and commencement. __(1) This Act may be called the Diplomatic and Consular Privileges Act, 1972.
(2)It extends to the whole of Pakistan.
(3)It shall come into force at once.
2. Provisions of Conventions to have force of law.__(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force, the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, set out in the First Schedule and Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963, set out in the Second Schedule shall, subject to the other provisions of this Act, have the force of law in Pakistan.
(2) For the purposes of Article 32 of the Convention set out in the First Schedule, a waiver by the head of the mission of any State or any person for the time being performing his functions shall be deemed to be a waiver by that State.
(3) For the purposes of Articles 45 of the Convention set out in the Second Schedule and of that Article as applied by Article 58 of that Convention, a waiver shall be deemed to have been expressed by a State if it has been expressed by the head of the diplomatic mission of that State or by any person for the time being performing his functions or, if there is no such mission, by the head of the consular post concerned.
(4) Articles 35, 36 and 40 of the Convention set out in the First Schedule and Articles 50, 51, 52, 54, 62 and 67 of the Convention set out in the Second Schedule, shall be construed as granting any privilege or immunity which they require to be granted.
3. Restriction of privileges and immunities. If it appears to the Federal Government that the privileges and immunities, accorded to the mission or a consular post of Pakistan in the territory of any State, or to persons connected with that mission or consular post, are less than those conferred by this Act on the mission or a consular post of
[1] For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Gaz. of P., Ext., Pt. III, p. 380.
that State or on persons connected with that mission or consular post, the Federal Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, withdraw such of the privileges and immunities so conferred from the mission of that State or, as the case may be, from all or any of the consular posts of that State, or from such persons connected therewith as it may deem it.
4. Certificate of Federal Government. If any question arises whether or not any person is entitled to any privilege or immunity under this Act, a certificate issued by or under the authority of the Federal Government stating any fact relating to that question shall be conclusive evidence of that fact.
5. Power to amend Schedules. The Federal Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, amend either of the Schedules in conformity with any amendment duly made in the provisions of the Convention set out therein.
6. Repeal. The Diplomatic and Consular Privileges Ordinance, 1972 (XV of 1972), is hereby repealed.
______
THE FIRST SCHEDULE
[See section 2(1)]
ARTICLE 1
For the purposes of the present Convention, the following expressions shall have the meanings hereunder assigned to them:
(a) the “head of the mission” is the person charged by the sending State with the duty of acting in that capacity;
(b) the “members of the mission” are the head of the mission and the members of the staff of the mission;
(c) the “members of the staff of the mission” are the members of the diplomatic staff, of the administrative and technical staff and of the service staff of the mission;
(d) the “members of the diplomatic staff” are the members of the staff of the mission having diplomatic rank;
(e) a “diplomatic agent” is the head of the mission or a member of the diplomatic staff of the mission;
(f) the “members of the administrative and technical staff” are the members of the staff of the mission employed in the administrative and technical service of the mission;
(g) the “members of the service staff’ are the members of the staff of the mission on the domestic service of the mission;
(a) a “private servant” is a person who is in the domestic service of a member of the mission and who is not an employee of the sending State;
(b) the “premises of the mission” are the buildings or parts of buildings and the land ancillary thereto, irrespective of ownership, used for the purposes of the mission including the residence of the head of the mission.
ARTICLE 22
1. The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.
2. 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 and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.
3. The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.
ARTICLE 23
1. The sending State and the head of the mission shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal dues and taxes in respect of the premises of the mission, whether owned or leased, other than such as represent payment for specific service rendered.
2. The exemption from taxation referred to in this Article shall not apply to such dues and taxes payable under the law of the receiving State by persons contracting with the sending State or the head of the mission.
ARTICLE 24
The archives and documents of the mission shall be inviolable at any time and wherever they may be.
ARTICLE 27
1. The receiving State shall permit and protect free communication on the part of the mission for all official purposes. In communicating with the Government and the other missions and consulates of the sending State wherever situated, the mission may employ all appropriate means, including diplomatic couriers and messages in code or cypher. However, the mission may install and use a wireless transmitter only with the consent of the receiving State.
2. The official correspondence of the mission shall be inviolable. Official correspondence means all correspondence relating to the mission and its functions.
3. The diplomatic bag shall not be opened or detained.
4. The packages constituting the diplomatic bag must bear visible external marks of their character and may contain only diplomatic documents or articles intended for official use.
5. The diplomatic courier who shall be provided with an official document indicating his status and the number of package constituting the diplomatic bag, shall be protected by the receiving State in the performance of his function. He shall enjoy personal inviolability and shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention.
6. The sending State or the mission may designate diplomatic couriers adhoc. In such cases the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Article shall also apply, except that the immunities therein mentioned shall cease to apply when such a courier has delivered to the consignee the diplomatic bag in his charge.
7. A diplomatic bag may be entrusted to the captain of a commercial aircraft scheduled to land at an authorized port of entry. He shall be provided with an official document indicating the number of packages constituting the bag but he shall not be considered to a diplomatic courier. The mission may sent one of its members to take possession of the diplomatic bag directly and freely from the captain of the aircraft.
ARTICLE 28
The fees and charges levied by the mission on the course of its official duties shall be exempt from all dues and taxes.
ARTICLE 29
The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any from of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat his with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.
ARTICLE 30
1. The private residence of a diplomatic agent shall enjoy the same inviolability and protection as the premises of the mission.
2. His papers, correspondence and, except as provided in paragraph 3 of Article 31, his property shall likewise enjoy inviolability.
ARTICLE 31
1. A diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State. He shall also enjoy immunity from its civil and administrative jurisdiction, except in the case of:
(a) a real action relating to private immovable property situated in the territory of the receiving State, unless he holds it on behalf of the sending State for the purposes of the mission;
(b) an action relating to succession in which the diplomatic agent is involved as executor, administrator, heir or legatee as a private person and not on behalf of the sending State;
(a) an action relating to any professional or commercial activity exercised by the diplomatic agent in the receiving State outside his official functions.
2. A diplomatic agent is not obliged to give evidence as a witness.
3. No measures of execution may be taken in respect of a diplomatic agent except in the cases coming under subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 1 of this Article, and provided that the measures concerned can be taken without infringing the inviolability of his person or of his residence.
4. The immunity of a diplomatic agent from the jurisdiction of the receiving State does not exempt him from the jurisdiction of the sending State.
ARTICLE 32
1. The immunity from jurisdiction of diplomatic agents and of persons enjoying immunity under Article 37 may be waived by the sending State.
2. The waiver must always be express.
3. The initiation of proceedings by a diplomatic agent or by a person enjoying immunity from jurisdiction under Article 37 shall preclude him from invoking immunity from jurisdiction in respect of any counterclaim directly connected with the principal claim.
4. Waiver of immunity from jurisdiction in respect of civil of administrative proceedings shall not be held to imply waiver of immunity in respect of the execution of the judgment, for which a separate waiver shall be necessary.
ARTICLE 33
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article, a diplomatic agent shall with respect to services rendered for the sending State be exempt from social security provisions which may be in force in the receiving State.
2. The exemption provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall also apply to private servants who are in the sole employ of a diplomatic agent, on condition:
(a) that they are not nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State; and
(b) that they are covered by the social security provisions which may be in force in the sending State or a third State.
3. A diplomatic agent who employs persons to whom the exemptions provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article does not apply shall observe the obligations which the social security provisions of the receiving State impose upon employers.
4. The exemptions provided for in paragraph 1 and 2 of this Article shall not preclude voluntary participation in the social security system of the receiving State provided that such participation is permitted by that State.
5. The provisions of this Article shall not affect bilateral or multilateral agreements concerning social security concluded previously and shall not prevent the conclusion of such agreements in the future.
ARTICLE 34
A diplomatic agent shall be exempt from all dues and taxes personal or real, national, regional or municipal except;
(a) indirect taxes of a kind which are normally incorporated in the price of goods or services;
(b) dues and taxes on private immovable property situated in the territory of the receiving State, unless he holds it on behalf of the sending State for the purposes of the mission;
(c) estate, succession or inheritance duties levied by the receiving State, subject to the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 39;
(d) dues and taxes on private income having source in the receiving State and capital taxes on investments made in commercial undertakings in the receiving State;
(e) charges levied for specific services rendered;
(f) registration, court or record fees, mortgage dues and stamp duty, with respect to immovable property, subject to the provisions of Article 23.
ARTICLE 35
The receiving State shall exempt diplomatic agents from all personal service, from all public service of any kind whatsoever, and from military obligations such as those connected with requisitioning, military contribution and billeting.
ARTICLE 36
1. The receiving State shall, in accordance with such laws and regulations as it may adopt, permit entry of and agent exemption from all customs duties, taxes and related charges other than charges for storage and similar services, on:
(a) articles for the official use of the mission;
(b) articles for the personal use of a diplomatic agent or members of his family forming part of his household, including articles intended for his establishment.
articles not covered by the exemptions mentioned paragraph 1 of this Article, or articles the import of export of which is prohibited by the law or controlled by the quarantine regulations of the receiving State.
Such inspection shall be conducted only in the presence of the diplomatic agent or of his authorised representative.
ARTICLE 37
1. The members of the family of a diplomatic agent forming part of his household shall, if they are not nationals of the receiving State, enjoy the privileges and immunities specified in Articles 29 to 36.
2. Members of the administrative and technical staff of the mission, together with members of their families forming part of their respective households, shall, if they are not nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State, enjoy the privileges and immunities specified in Articles 29 to 35, except that the receiving State specified in paragraph 1 of Article 31 shall not extend to acts performed outside the course of their duties. They shall also enjoy the privileges specified in Article 36, paragraph 1, in respect of articles imported at the time of first installation.
3. Members of the service staff of the mission who are not nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State shall enjoy immunity in respect of acts performed in the course of their duties, exemption from dues and taxes on the emoluments they receive by reason of their employment and the exemption contained in Article 33.
4. Private servants of members of the mission shall, if they are not nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State, be exempt from dues and taxes on the emoluments they receive by reasons of their employment. In order respects, they made enjoy reasons of their employment. In other respects, they may enjoy privileges and immunities only to the extent admitted by the receiving State. However, the receiving State must exercise its jurisdiction over those persons in such a manner as not to interfere unduly with the performance of the functions of the mission.
ARTICLE 38
1. Except in so for as additional privileges and immunities may be granted by the receiving State, a diplomatic agent who is a national of or permanently resident in that State shall enjoy only immunity from jurisdiction, and inviolability, in respect of official acts performed in the exercise of his functions.
2. Other members of the staff of the mission and private servants who are nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State shall enjoy privileges and immunities only to the extent admitted by the receiving State. However, the receiving State must exercise its jurisdiction over those persons in such a manner as not to interfere unduly with the performance of the functions of the mission.
ARTICLE 39
1. Every persons entitled to privileges and immunities shall enjoy them from the moment he enters the territory of the receiving State on proceeding to take up his post or, if already in its territory, from the moment when his appointment is notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or such other Ministry as may be agreed.
2. When the functions of a person enjoying privileges and immunities have come to an end, such privileges and immunities shall normally cease at the moment when he leaves
the country, or on expiry of a reasonable period in which to do so, but shall subject until that time, even in case of armed conflict. However, with respect to acts performed by such a person in the exercise of his functions as a member of the mission, immunity shall continue to subsist.
3. In case of the death of a member of the mission, the members of his family shall continue to enjoy the privileges and immuni9ties to which they are entitled until the expiry of a reasonable period in which to leave the country.
4. In the event of the death of a member of the mission, not a national of or permanently resident in the receiving State or of a member of his family forming part of his household, the receiving State shall permit the withdrawal of the movable property of the de3ceased, with the exception of any property acquired in the country the export of which was prohibited at the time of his death. Estate, succession and inheritance duties shall not be levied on movable property the presence of which in the receiving state was due solely to the presence there of the deceased as a member of the mission.
ARTICLE 40.
1. If a diplomatic agent passes through or is in the territory of a third State, which has granted him a passport visa if such visa was necessary, while proceeding to take up or return to his post, or when returning to his own country, the third State shall accord him inviolability and such other immunities as may be required to ensure his transit or return.
2. The same shall apply in the case of any members of his family enjoying privileges or immunities who are accompanying the diplomatic agent, or traveling separately to join him or to return to their country.
3. In circumstances similar to those specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, third States shall not hinder the passage of members of the administrative and technical or services staff of a mission, and of members of their families, through their territories.
4. Third States shall accord to official correspondence and other official communications in transit, including messages in code or cypher, the same freedom and protection as is accorded by the receiving State. They shall accord to diplomatic couriers who have been granted a passport visa if such visa was necessary, and diplomatic bags in transit the same inviolability and protection as the receiving State is bound to accord.
5. The obligations of thirds States under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall also apply to the persons mentioned respectively in those paragraphs, and to official communications and diplomatic bags, whose presence in the territory of the third States is due to force majeure.
THE SECOND SCHEDULE [See section 2 (1)] ARTICLE 1 DEFINITIONS
1. For the purposes of the present Convention, the following expressions shall have the meanings hereunder assigned to them
(a) “Consular post” means any consulategeneral Consulate, viceconsulate or consular agency :
(b) “consular district” means the area assigned to a consular post for the exercise of consular functions ‘
(c) “head of consular post” means the persons charged with the duty of acting in that capacity ;
(d) “consular officer” means any person, including the, head of a consular post, entrusted in that capacity with the exercise of consular functions ;
(e) “consular employee” means any person employed in the administrative or technical service of a consular post ;
(f) “member of the service staff” means any person employed in the domestic service of a consular post ;
(g) “members of the consular post” means consular officers, consular employees and members of the service staff;
(h) “members of the consular staff” means consular officers, other than the head of the consular post, consular employees and members of the service staff;
(i) “member of the private staff” means a person who is employed exclusively in the private service of a member of the consular post ;
(j) “consular archives” includes all the papers, documents, correspondence, books, films, tapes and registers of the consular post, together with the ciphers and codes, the cardindexes and any article of furniture intended for their protection or safekeeping.
(k) “consular archives” includes all the papers, documents, correspondence, books, films tapes and registers of the consular post, together with the ciphers and codes, the card indexes and any article of furniture intended for their protection or safekeeping.
2. Consular officers are of two categories, namely career consular officers and honorary consular officers. The provisions of Chapter II of the present Convention apply to consular posts headed by career consular officers, the provisions of Chapter II govern consular posts headed by honorary consular officer.
3. The particular status of members of the consular posts who are nationals or permanent residents of the receiving States is governed by Article 71 of the present Convention.
ARTICLE 5
CONSULAR FUNCTIONS
Consular functions consist in :___
(a) protecting in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and of its nationals., both individuals and bodies corporate, within the limits permitted by international law ;
(b) furthering the development of commercial, economic, cultural and scientific relations between the sending State and the receiving State and otherwise promoting friendly relations between them in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention ;
(c) ascertaining by all lawful means conditions and developments in the commercial, economic, cultural and scientific life of the receiving State, reporting thereon to the Government of the sending State and giving information to persons interested ;
(d) issuing passports and travel documents to national of the sending State, and visas or appropriate documents to persons wishing to travel to the sending State ;
(e) helping and assisting nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, of the sending State ;
(f) acting as notary and civil registrar and in capacities of a similar kind, and performing certain functions of an admini8strative nature, provided that there is nothing contrary thereto in the laws and regulations of the receiving State;
(g) safeguarding the interests of nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, of the sending State in cases of succession mortis causa in territory of the receiving State, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the receiving State ;
(h) safeguarding, within the limits imposed by the laws and regulations of the receiving State, the interest of minors and other persons lacking full capacity who are nationals of the sending State, particularly where any guardianship or trusteeship is required with respect to such persons;
(i) subject to the practices and procedures obtaining in the receiving State, representing or arranging appropriate representation for nationals of the sending State before the tribunals and other authorities of the receiving State, for the purpose of obtaining, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the receiving State, provisional measures for the preservation of the rights and interests of these nationals, where because of absence or any other reason, such nationals are unable at the proper time to assume the defence of their rights and interests ;
(j) transmitting judicial and extrajudicial documents or executing letters rogatory or commissions to take evidence for the courts of the sending State in accordance with international agreements in force or, in the absence of such international agreements, in any other manner, compatible with the laws and regulations of the receiving State ;
(k) exercising rights of supervision and inspection provided for in the laws and regulations of the sending States, in respect of vessels having the nationality of the sending State, and of aircraft registered in that State, and in respect of their crews;
(l) extending assistance to vessels and aircraft mentioned in subparagraph (k) of this Article , and to their crews, taking statements regarding the voyage of a vessel examining and stamping the ships papers, and, without prejudice to the powers of the authorities of the receiving State, conducting investigations into any incidents which occurred during the voyage, and settling disputes of any kind between the master, the officers and the sea men in so far as this may be authorised by the laws and regulations of the sending State ;
(m) performing any other functions entrusted to a consular post by the sending State which are not prohibited by the laws and regulations of the receiving State or to which no objection is taken by the receiving State or which are referred to in the international agreements in force between the sending State and the receiving State.
ARTICLE 15
TEMPORARY EXERCISE OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE HEAD OF A CONSULAR POST.
1. If the head of a consular post is unable to carry out his functions or the position of head of consular post is vacant, an acting head of post may act provisionally as head of the consular post.
The full name of the acting head of post shall be notified either by the diplomatic mission of the sending State or, if that State has no such mission in the receiving State, by the head of the consular post, or, if he is unable to do so, by a competent authority of the sending State, to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the receiving State or to the authority designated by that Ministry. As a general rul3e, this notification shall be given in advance. The receiving State may make the admission as acting head of post of a person who is neither a diplomatic agent not a consular officer of the sending State in the receiving State conditional on its consent.
3. The competent authorities of the receiving State shall afford assistance and protection to the acting head of post. While he is in charge of the post, the provisions of the present Convention shall apply to him on the same basis as to the head of the consular post concerned. The receiving State shall not, however, be obliged to grant ot an acting head of post any facility, privilege or immunity which the head of the consular post enjoys only subject to conditions not fulfilled by the acting head of post.
4. When, in the circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, a member of the diplomatic staff of the diplomatic mission of the sending State in the receiving State is designated by the sending State as an acting head of post, he shall, if the receiving State does not object thereto, continue to enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.
ARTICLE 17
PERFORMANCE OF DIPLOMATIC ACTS BY CONSULAR OFFICERS.
1. In a State where the sending State has no diplomatic mission and is not represented by a diplomatic mission of a third State, a consular officer may, with the consent of the receiving State, and without affecting his consular status, be authorised to perform diplomatic acts. The performance of such acts by a consular officer shall not confer upon him any right to claim diplomatic privileges and immunities.
2. A consular officer may, after notification addressed to the receiving State, act as representative of the Sending State to any interGovernmental organization. When so acting, he shall be entitled to enjoy any privileges and immunities accorded to such a representative by customary international law or by international agreements; however, in respect of the performance by him of any consular junction, he shall not be entitled to any greater immunity from jurisdiction than that to which a consular officer is entitled under the present Convention.
CHAPTER II
FACILITIES, PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES RELATING TO CONSULAR POSTS, CAREER CONSULAR OFFICER AND OTHER MEMBERS OF A CONSULAR POST.
SECTION.___FACILITIES, PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES RELATING TO A CONSULAR POST.
ARTICLE 31 INVIOLABEILITY OF THE CONSULAR PREMISES
1. Consular premises shall be inviolable to the extent provided in this Article.
2. The authorities of the receiving State shall not enter that part of the consular premises which is used exclusively for the purpose of the work of the consular post except with the consent of the head of the consular post or of his designee or of the head of the diplomatic mission of the sending State. The consent of the head of the consular post may, however, be assumed in case of fire or other disaster requiring prompt protective action.
3. The consular premises, their furnishings, the property of the consular post and its means of transport shall be immune from any form of requisition for purposes of national defence or public utility. If expropriation is necessary for such purposes, all possible steps shall be taken to avoid impending the performance of consular functions, and prompt adequate and effective compensation shall be paid to the sending State.
ARTICLE 32 EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION OF CONSULAR
PREMISES.
1. Consular premises and the residence of the career head of consular post of which the sending State or any person acting on its behalf is the owner or lessee shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal dues and taxes whatsoever, other than such as represent payment for specific services rendered.
2. The exemption from taxation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to such dues and taxes if, under the law of the receiving State, they are payable by the person who contracted with the sending State or with the person acting on its behalf.
ARTICLE 33 INVIOLABILITY OF THE CONSULAR ARCHIVES AND DOCUMENTS
The consular archives and documents shall be inviolable at all times and wherever they may be.
ARTICLE 35 FREEDOM OF COMMUNICATION
1. The receiving State shall permit and protect freedom of communication on the part of the consular post for all official purposes. In communicating with the Government, the diplomatic missions and other consular posts, wherever situated, of the sending State, the consular post may employ all appropriate means, including diplomatic or consular, couriers, diplomatic on consular bags and messages in code or cypher. However, the consular post may install and use a wireless transmitter only with the consent of the receiving State.
2. The official correspondence of the consular post shall be inviolable. Official correspondence means all correspondence relating to the consular post and its functions.
3. The consular bag shall be neither open nor detained. Nevertheless, if the competent authorities of the receiving State have serious reason to believe that the bag contains something other than the correspondence, documents or articles referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, they may request that the bag be opened in their presence by an authorised representative of the sending State. If this request is refused by the authorities of the sending State, the bag shall be returned to its place of origin.
4. The packages constituting the consular bag shall bear visible external marks of their character and may contain only official correspondence and documents or articles intended exclusively for official use.
5. The consular courier shall be provided with an official document indicating his status and the number of packages constituting the consular bag. Except with the consent of the receiving State he shall be neither a national of the receiving State, not, unless he is a national of the sending State, a permanent resident of the receiving State. In the performance of his functions he shall be protected by the receiving State. He shall enjoy personal inviolability and shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention.
6. The sending state, its diplomatic missions and its consular posts may designate consular couriers ad hoc. In such cases the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Article shall also apply except that the immunities therin mentioned shall cease to apply when such a courier has delivered to the consignee the consular bag in his charge.
7. A consular bag may be entrusted to the captain of a shop or of a commercial aircraft scheduled to land at an authorized port of entry. He shall be provided with an official document indicating the number of packages constituting the bag, by the shall not be considered to be a consular courier. By arrangement with the appropriate local authorities, the consular post may send one of its m embers to take possession of the bag directly and freely from the captain of the shop or of the aircraft.
ARTICLE 39
CONSULAR FEES AND CHARGES
1. The consular post may levy in the territory of the receiving State the fees and charges provided by the laws and regulations of the sending State for consular acts.
2. Except in the case specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, consular officers shall not be committed to prison or liable to any other form of restriction on their personal freedom save in execution of a judicial decision of final effect.
SECTION II FACILITIES, PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES RELATING TO CAREER CONSULAR
OFFICERS AND OTHER MEMEBERS OF A CONSULAR POST.
ARTICLE 41 PERSONAL INVIOLABILITY OF CONSULAR OFFCERS
1. Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority.
2. Except in the case specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, consular officers shall not be committed to prison or liable to any other form of restriction on their personal freedom save in execution of a judicial decision of final effect.
ARTICLE 43 IMMUNITY FROM JURISDICTION
1. Consular officers and consular employees shall not be amenable to the jurisdiction of the judicial or administrative authorities of the receiving State in respect of acts performed in the exercise of consular functions.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall not, however, apply in respect of a Civil action either :___
(a) arising out of a contract concluded by a consular officer or a consular employee in which he did not contract expressly or impliedly as an agent of the sending State; or
(b) by a third party for damage ari9sing from an accident in the receiving State caused by a vehicle, vessel or aircraft.
ARTICLE 44 LIABILITY OT GIVE EVIDENCE
1. Members of a consular post may be called upon to attend as witnesses in the course of judicial or administrative proceedings. A consular employee or a member of the service staff shall not, except in the case mentioned in paragraph 3 of this Article, decline to give evidence. If a consular officer should decline to do so, no coercive measure or penalty may be applied to him.
2. The authority requiring the evidence of a consular officer shall avoid interference with the performance of his functions. It may, when possible, take such evidence at his residence or at the consular post or accept a statement from him in writing.
3. Members of consular post are under no obligation to give evidence concerning matters connected with the exercise of their functions or to produce
official correspondence and documents relating thereto. They are also entitled to decline to give evidence as expert witnesses with regard to the law of the sending State.
ARTICLE 45 WAIVER OF PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES
1. The sending State may waive, with regard to a member of the consular post any of the privileges and immunities provided for in Articles 41, 43 and d44.
2. The waiver shall in all cases be express, except as provided in paragraph 3 of this Article, and shall be communicated to the receiving State in writing.
3. The initiation of proceedings by a consular officer or a consular emplo9yee in a matter where he might enjoy immunity from jurisdiction under Article 43 shall preclude him from invoking immunity from jurisdiction in respect of any counterclaim directly connected with the principal claim.
4. The waiver of immunity from jurisdiction for the purposes of civil or administrative proceedings shall not be deemed o imply the waiver of immunity form the measures of execution resulting form the judicial decision ; in respect of such measures, a separate waiver shall be necessary.
ARTICLE 48 SOCIAL SECURITY EXEMPTION
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article, members of the consular post with respect to services rendered by them for the sending State and members of their families forming part of their households, shall be exempt from social security provisions which may be in force in the receiving State.
2. The exemption provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall apply also to members of the private staff who are in the sole employ of members of the consular post, on condition:
(a) that they are not nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State; and
(b) that they are covered by the social security provisions which are in force in the sending State or a third State.
3. Members of the consular post who employ persons to whom the exemption provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article does not apply shall observe the obligations which the social security provisions of the receiving State impose upon employers.
4. The exemption provided for in paragraph 1 and 2 of this Article shall not preclude voluntary participation in the social security system of the receiving State, provided that such participation is permitted by that State.
ARTICLE 49 EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION
1. Consular officers and consular employees and members of their families forming part of their households shall be exempt form all dues and taxes, personal or real, national, regional or municipal, except:
(a) indirect taxes of a kind which are normally incorporated in the price of goods or services ;
(b) dues or taxes on private immovable property situated in the territory of the receiving State, subject to the provisions of Article 32;
(c) estate, succession or inheritance duties, and duties on transfers, levied by the receiving State, subject to the provisions of paragraph (b) of Article 51;
(d) dues and taxes on private income, including capital gains, having its source in the receiving State and capital taxes relating to investments made in commercial or financial undertakings in the receiving State;
(e) charges levied for specific services rendered;
(f) registration, court or record fees, mortgage dues and stamp duties, subject to the provisions of Article 32.
2. Members of the service staff shall be exempt form dues and taxes on the wages which they receive for their services.
3. Members of the consular post who employ persons whose wages or salaries are not exempt from income tax in the receiving State shall observe the obligations which the laws and regulations of that State impose upon employers concerning the levying of income tax.
ARTICLE 50 EXEMPTION FROM CUSTOMS DUTIES AND INSPECTION
1. The receiving State shall, in accordance with such laws and regulations as i9t may adopt, permit entry of and grant exemption form all customs duties, taxes, and related charges other than charges for storage cartage and similar services, on :___
(a) articles for the official use of the consular post;
(b) articles for the personal use of a consular officer or members of his family forming part of his household, including articles intended for his establishment. The articles intended for consumption shall not exceed the quantities necessary for direct utilization by the persons concerned.
2. Consular employees shall enjoy the privileges and exemptions specified in paragraph 1 of this Article in respect of articles imported at the time of first installation.
3. Personal baggage accompanying consular officers and members of their families forming part of their households shall be exempted from inspection. It may be inspected only if there is serious reason to believe that it contains articles other than those referred to in subparagraph (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article, or articles the import or export of which is prohibited by the laws and regulations of the receiving State or which are subject to its quarantine laws and regulations. Such inspection shall be carried out in the presence of the consular officer or member of his family concerned.
ARTICLE 51 ESTATE OF A MEMBER OF THE CONSULAR POST OR OF A MEMBER OF HIS
FAMILY
In the event of the death of a member of the consular post or of a member of his family forming part of his household, the receiving State:
(a) shall permit the export of the movable property of the deceased, with the exception of any such property acquired in the receiving State the export of which was prohibited at the time of his death ;
(b) shall not levy national, regional or municipal estate, succession or inheritance duties, and duties on transfers, on movable property the presence of which in the receiving State was due solely to the presence in that State of the deceased as a member of the consular post or as a member of the family of a member of the consular post.
ARTICLE 52 EXEMPTION FROM PERSONAL SERVICES AND CONTRIBUTIONS
The receiving State shall exempt members of the consular post and members of their families forming part of their households from all personal services, from all public service of any kind whatsoever, and from military obligations such as those connected with requisitioning, military contributions and billeting.
ARTICLE 53 BEGINNING AND END OF CONSULAR PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES
1. Every member of the consular post shall enjoy the privileges and immunities provided in the present Convention from the moment he enters the territory of the receiving State on proceeding to take up his post or if already in its territory from the moment when he enters on his duties with the consular post.
2. Members of the family of a member of the consular post forming part of his household and members of his private staff shall receive the privileges and immunities provided in the present Convention from the date from which he enjoys privileges and immunities in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article or from the date of their entry into the territory of the receiving State or from the date of their becoming a member of such family or private staff, whichever is the latest.
3. When the functions of a member of the consular post have come to an end, his privileges and immunities and those of a member of his family forming part of his household or a member of his private staff shall normally cease at the moment when the person concerned leaves the receiving State or on the expiry of a reasonable period in which to do so whichever is the sooner, but shall subsist until that time, even in case of armed conflict.In the case of the persons referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, their privileges and immunities shall come to an end when they cease to belong to the household or to be in the service of a member of the consular post provided, however, that if such persons intend leaving the receiving State within a reasonale period thereafter, their privileges and immunities shall subsist until the time of their departure.
4. However, with respect to acts performed by a consular officer or a consular employee in the exercise of his functions, immunity from jurisdiction shall continue to subsist without limitation of time.
5. In the event of the death of a member of the consular post, the members of his family forming part of his household shall continue to enjoy the privileges and immunities accorded to them until they leave the receiving State or until the expiry of a reasonable period enabling them to do so, whichever is the sooner.
ARTICLE 54 OBLIGATIONS OF THIRD STATES
1. If a consular officer passes through or is in the territorry of a third State, which has granted him a visa, if visa was necessary,while proceeding to take up or return to his post or when returning to the sending State, the third state shall accord to him all immunities provided for by the other Articles of the present Convention as may be required to ensure his transit or return. The same shall apply in the case of any member of his family forming part of his household enjoying such privileges and immunities who are accompanying the consular officer of travelling separately to join him or to return to the sending State.
2. In circumstances similar to those specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, third State shall not hinder the transit through their territory of other members of the consular post or of members of their families forming part of their households.
3. Third State shall accord to official correspondence and to other official communications in transit, including messages in code or cypher, the same freedom and protection as the receiving State is bound to accord under the present Convention. They shall accord to consular couriers who have been granted a visa, if a visa was necessary, and to consular bags in transit, the same inviolability and protection as the receiving State is bound to accord under the present Convention.
4. The obligations of third States under paragraphs 1,2 and 3 of the this Article shall also apply to the persons mentioned respectively in those paragraphs, and to official communications and to consular bags, whose presence in the territory of the third State is due to force majeure.
ARTICLE 55 RESPECT FOR THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE RECEIVING STATE
1. The consular premises shall not be used in any manner incompatible with the exercise of consular functions.
2. The provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not exclude the possibility of offices of other institutions or agencies being installed in part of the building in which the consular premises are situated, provided that the premises assigned to them are separate from those used by the consular post. In that event, the said offices shall not, for the purposes of the present Convention, be considered to form part of the consular premises.
ARTICLE 57 SPECIAL PROVISONS CONCERNING PRIVATE GAINFUL OCCUPATION
1. Privileges and immunities provided in this Chapter shall not be accorded:
(a) to consular employees or to members of the services staff who carry on any private gainful occupation in the receiving State:
(b) to members of the family of a person referred to in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph or to members of his private staff:
(c) to members of the family of a memeber of a consular post who themselves carry on any private gainful occupation in the receiving State.
CHAPTER III REGIME RELATING TO HONORARY CONSULAR OFFICERS AND CONSULAR POSTS
HEADED BY SUCH OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 58 GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO FACILITIES, PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.
1. Articles 35 and 39, paragraph 3 of Article 54 and Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 55 shall apply to consular posts headed by an honorary consular officer. In addition, the facilities privileges and immunities of such consular posts shall be governed by Articles 60, 61 and 62.
2. Article 43, paragraph 3 of Article 44, Articles 45 and 53 shall apply to honorary consular officers. In addition, the facilities, privileges and immunities of such consular officers shall be governed by Articles 66 and 67,
3. Privileges and immunities provided in the present Convention shall not be accorded to members of the family of an honorary consular officer or of a consular employee employed at a consular post headed by an honorary consular officer.
Article 60 EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION OF CONSULAR PREMISES
1. Consular premises of a consular post headed by an honorary consular officer of which the sending State is the owner or lessee shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal dues and taxes whatsoever, other than such as represent payment for specific services rendered.
2. The exemption from taxation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to such dues and taxes, if under the laws and regulations of the receiving State, they are payable by the person who contracted with the sending State.
Article 61
INVIOLABILITY OF CONSULAR ARCHIVES AND DOCUMENTS
The consular archives and documents of a consular post headed by an honorary consular officer shall be inviolable at all times and wherever they may be, provided that they are kept separate from other papers and documents and, in particular, from the private correspondence of the head of a consular post and of any person working with him, and from the materials, books or documents relating to their profession or trade.
Article 62
EXEMPTION FROM CUSTOMS DUTIES
The receiving State shall, in accordance with such laws and regulations as it may adopt, permit entry of and grant exemption from all customs duties, taxes, and related charges other than charges for storage, cartage and similar services on the following articles, provided that they are for the official use of consular post headed by an honorary consular officer: coastsofarms, flags, signboards, seals and stamps, books, official printed matter, office furniture, office equipment and similar articles supplied by or at the instance of the sending State to the consular post.
Article 66
EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION
An honorary consular officer shall be exempt from all dues and taxes on the remuneration and emoluments which he receives from the sending State in respect of the exercise of consular functions.
Article 67
EXEMPTION FROM PERSONAL SERVICES AND CONTRIBUTIONS
The receiving State shall exempt honorary consular officers from all personal services and from all public services of any kind whatsoever and from military obligations such as those connected with requisitioning military contributions and billeting.
CHAPTER IV.—General Provisions
Article 70
EXERCISE OF CONSULAR FUNCTIONS BY DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS
1. The provisions of the present Convention apply also, so far as the context permits to the exercise of consular functions by a "diplomatic mission.
2. The names of members of a diplomatic mission assigned to the consular section or otherwise charged with the exercise of the consular functions of the mission shall be notified to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the receiving State or to the authority designated by that Ministry.
4. The privileges and immunities of the members of a diplomatic mission referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall continue to be governed by the rules of international law concerning diplomatic relations.
Article 71
NATIONALS OR PERMANENT RESIDENTS OF THE RECEIVING STATE
1. Except in so far as additional facilities, privileges and immunities may be granted by the receiving State, consular officers who are nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State shall enjoy only immunity from jurisdiction and personal inviolability in respect of official acts performed in the exercise of their functions, and the privilege provided in paragraph 3 of Article 44.
2. Other members of the consular post who are nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State and members of their families, as well as members of the families of consular officers referred to in paragraph 1 of this Articles, shall enjoy facilities, privileges and immunities only in so far as these are granted to them by the receiving State. Those members of the families of members of the consular post and those members of the private staff who are themselves nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State shall likewise enjoy facilities, privileges and immunities only in so far as these are granted tc them by the receiving State.
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