London Indymedia

G8 Immunity for Heads of State

Our War Crimes correspondent | 20.06.2005 21:09 | G8 2005 | Globalisation | Indymedia | London

New Statutory Instrument in force from 1st July
gives immunity for war criminals.

Here's the new SI which affords all the Heads of State and their officials immunity from anything they do whilst on UK soil or for any war crimes they've committed !

STATUTORY INSTRUMENT

2005 No. 1456

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNITIES AND PRIVILEGES

The G8 Gleneagles (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2005

Made 7th June 2005
Laid before Parliament 10th June 2005
Coming into force 1st July 2005

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 7th day of June 2005

Present,

The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Whereas the G8 Gleneagles conference is to be held in the United Kingdom beginning on 6th July 2005 and is to be attended by representatives of the United Kingdom and of other sovereign Powers:

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers conferred on Her by section 6 of the International Organisations Act 1968[1] (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") or otherwise in Her Majesty vested, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the G8 Gleneagles (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2005 and shall come into force on 1st July 2005.

2.— (1) For the purposes of this Order, there are hereby specified as the representatives of the sovereign Powers (other than the United Kingdom) at the G8 Gleneagles conference the persons who are notified to the Secretary of State by the sovereign Power concerned as members of its delegation having ministerial or other high official rank, and who are accepted as such by the Secretary of State.

(2) Except in so far as in any particular case any privilege or immunity is waived by the Governments of the sovereign Powers whom they represent, and without prejudice to any privilege or immunity to which they are otherwise entitled, the persons specified in paragraph (1) shall enjoy, while exercising their functions and during their journeys to and from the place of meeting, the like immunity from suit and legal process, including immunity from personal arrest or detention, and the like inviolability of all papers and documents as are accorded to the head of a diplomatic mission.

(3) Neither this Article nor section 6(3) of and Part IV of Schedule 1 to the Act shall operate so as to confer any privilege or immunity on members of the official staffs of the persons specified in paragraph (1) or on any person who is a British citizen, a British overseas territories citizen, a British Overseas citizen or a British National (Overseas) or who is permanently resident in the United Kingdom.


A.K. Galloway
Clerk of the Privy Council

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)


This Order confers privileges and immunities upon the representatives of the sovereign Powers (other than the United Kingdom) at the G8 Gleneagles conference, which is to be held in the United Kingdom beginning 6th July 2005.

Our War Crimes correspondent

Comments

Hide the following comment

huh?

20.06.2005 22:29

Diplomatic visitors already have diplomatic immunity in most situations (various treaties ensure this). All this document does is formalise the situation in British law.

It is nothing special/new. Just a formality. Even if it hadn't been produced, the diplomats would be immune anyway (would the UK like to arrest any one of the leaders? I think not, as it would open a political and possibly military shit storm.)

fredrico
mail e-mail: musteatvegan@yahoo.co.uk


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