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Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities of Agents Invested with Functions of an International Interest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2017

Lawrence Preuss
Lawrence Preuss*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Extract

Recent tendencies toward the reduction of diplomatic privileges and immunities have been justified by the decreasing importance of the causes which have contributed to their establishment in their present exaggerated extent. The traditional distrust of diplomatic missions as instruments of espionage and intrigue has all but vanished, and has been supplanted by an appreciation of their functions as agencies for facilitating the pacific intercourse of states. The scrupulousness with which the diplomatic character is now respected and the growing security of the legal order in most states make possible a reduction of diplomatic prerogatives without jeopardizing the successful and independent fulfillment of the mission which it is their purpose to secure. The widest pretensions to exemption from the authority of the receiving state were advanced at precisely those times in which diplomats were in practice subjected to the greatest amount of interference and control. Doctrines of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, inspired by a reaction against contemporary conditions, have been incorporated into the customary law, which has lost its raison d'Ure to the extent that the historical factors which influenced its growth are no longer operative. The need of the envoy for independence exists today no less than formerly, but it no longer requires, as a condition of its guarantee, that complete immunity from the law and jurisdiction of the receiving state which has found a figurative expression in the fiction of exterritoriality. As a subject involving few of the political factors which have thus far proved to be insurmountable obstacles in the way of codification, the law of diplomatic privileges and immunities is eminently suited for restatement and amendment in the form of a general convention. Such a restatement, if it is not to be retrogressive, must be based upon the conception that the receiving state has rights, and the sending state duties, which are correlative to the obligations of the state of residence and the rights of the appointing state, alone emphasized in the existing law.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , October 1931 , pp. 694 - 710
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1931

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References

1 The Committee of Experts for the Progressive Codification of International Law, Report to the Council of the League of Nations on the Questions which appear Ripe for International Regulation (cited hereafter as Report), C.196.M.70.1927.V., p. 77; Report of M. Diena on Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities, ibid., p. 85; Basdevant, Suzanne , Les fonctionnaires internationaux, p. 290 ff. Google Scholar

2 Rey, “Les immuniés des fonctionnaires internationaux,’ 23 Rev. de Dr. Int. Print (1928), p. 257.

3 “Als unzweifelbares Rechtssubjekt ü Vlkerrechts hat der Bund nach aussen alle diejenigen Rechte im Staatverkehr, die souveranen Gemeinwesen gemeinhin zustehen, auch ohne dass die Volkerbundakte ihrer ausdrücklich tun brauchte… . Der Völkerbund hat das Recht, Gesandte zu schicken und zu empfangen, wie es bisher alle Staatenbunde in der Geschichte gehabt haben, obgleich das Statut des Völkerbundes ganz von diesem Rechte schweigt,” Die Saizung des Völkerbundes kommentiert (2d ed.), pp. 115-116.

4 For a discussion of the legal nature of the League in relation to the problems of classification and of international personality, see Spiropolous, Théorie qénérale du droit international, pp. 164—176.

5 Nouveau Recueil Général, III (2° ser.), p. 449.

6 Art. 5, 26 League of Nations Treaty Series, No. 647, p. 173.

7 Thilly, “Commission Européenne et Internationale du Danube,” in De Lapradelle and Niboyet, Répertoire de droit international, t. IV, No. 61; Corthéy, “Commissions fluviales infternationales,” ibid., No. 52. See L. W. Eagle c. Ministére des Finances, Cour de cassation de Roumanie (1924), and note by Francis Rey, 23 Rev. de Dr. Int. Privé (1928), p. 127 ff.

8 Article 37. The Statute provides (Article 29) that the functionaries of the commission shall be afforded ‘ ‘all necessary facilities for the accomplishment of their duties.” Despite the lack of a conventional obligation, the Czechoslovakian Government conceded immunity from direct taxation and customs duties to the functionaries of the commission, with the exception of its own nationals (Rey, op. cit., pp. 268-269), and similar exemptions have been granted by the Austrian Government to non-nationals since the removal of the seat of the commission to Vienna in 1927 (Thilly, op. cit., No. 51).

9 Rey, op. cit., p. 265; Corthésy, op. cit., No. 51.

10 Article 8, 26 L. N. T. S., No. 649, p. 219.

11 Lewinsky and Wagner, Damiger Stoats- und Völkerrecht, p. 601. The personnel of the Polish delegation are assimilated to Danzig officials of equivalent rank. Ibid., p. 375.

12 Art. 3, Strupp, Documents pour servir a Ihistoire du droit des gens, t. IV, p. 581.

13 By decree of April 30, 1920, the French Government made the following concessions: the delegates, deputy-delegates, national secretaries-general and the secretary general of the commission were granted diplomatic privileges and immunities. The non-French personnel of each delegation and of the commission were exempted from direct taxation. Rey, op. cit., pp. 261-262. Cf. the Treaty of St. Germain, Art. 186; the Treaty of Trianon, Art. 170; and the Treaty of Neuilly, Art. 130.

14 See, for example, the ordinance of the German Minister of Foreign Affairs of May 11, 1921, conferring diplomatic privileges and immunities upon the non-German members and personnel of the Franco-German Mixed Arbitral Tribunal. Reichsgesetzblatt (1921), p. 690.

15 Eagleton, “Responsibility of States for the Protection of Foreign Officials,” in this JOURNAL, Vol. 19 (1925), p. 303; League of Nations, Official Journal (cited hereafter as O. J.), 1924, p. 524.

16 Report, p. 135. Cf. Arts. 13 and 14 of the project of a convention on diplomatic agents drawn up in 1927 by the International Commission of American Jurists. This JOURNAL, Vol. 22 (1928), Supplement, p. 142.

17 Basdevant, op. cit., pp. 306-308.

18 Report, p. 248.

19 Scott, The Hague Conventions and Declarations of 1899 and 1907, p. 60. See Van Vollenhoven, “Diplomatic Privileges of Non-Diplomats,” in this JOURNAL, Vol. 19 (1925), p. 469 ff.

20 Scott, op. cit., loc. cit.

21 Ibid., p. 32.

22 Ibid., p. 192.

23 Descamps and Renault, Recueil international des traités du XX’ siécle (1907), p. 469. See article of the Convention for the Establishment of an International Central American Tribunal, Feb. 7, 1923. This JOURNAL, Vol. 17 (1923), Supplement, p. 83. The members of the Corridor Arbitral Court (Korridorschiedsgericht) established by the German-Polish treaty of April 21, 1926, are granted diplomatic privileges and immunities. Lewinsky, “Das Gesandtschafts- und Konsulalsrecht der Freien Stadt Damig,” 15 Zeitschrift fur Völkerrecht (1929), p. 51.

24 For the successive stages in the adoption of the present article, see Miller, The Drafting of the Covenant, Vol. II, pp. 108,121,133, 233, 260, 309, 340, 429, 506, 582, 596, 610, 625, 635, 650, 660, and 674.

25 J. Secrétan, Les immuniés diplomatiques des représentants des Etats membres et des agents de la Socété des Nations, p. 13.

26 On the subject of the connection between the League and the International Labor Organization see Publications de la Socété des Nations, Rapport de la Premiére Commission, Actes de la Troisiéme Assemblée, Séances Plénières, Vol. II, p. 194; and 31 Annuaire de I'nstitut du Droit International (1924), pp. 11-14.

27 Frei, De la situation juridique des représentants des membres de la Société des Nations et de ses agents, pp. 23-25.

28 For a résumé of Swiss practice see Report, pp. 242-248; and Martin, Les priviléges et immunités diplomatiques, pp. 162-175.

29 Frei, op. cit., pp. 46—47; Gonsiorowski, Socété des Nations et problème de la paix, Vol. II, p. 280. The Swiss Government has admitted that it is under an international obligation to extend diplomatic privileges and immunities to the delegates of non-member states attending meetings of League conferences in Switzerland. O. J. (1926), p. 538.

30 The origins of the permanent delegations have been described by Pitman B. Potter in “Permanent Delegations to the League of Nations,” Research Committee of the Geneva Office, League of Nations Association (1930). A list of the permanent delegations is given on pp. 11-13.

31 Frei, op. cit., p. 97. In 1926 the Tribunal of First Instance of Geneva dismissed a civil suit against the permanent delegate of Jugoslavia, holding that he was entitled, by virtue of the decree of 1922, to the same jurisdictional immunities as those accorded to the heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Switzerland. V … c. D … , 54 Clunet (1927), p. 1175.

32 Report, p. 249.

33 Rey, op. cit., p. 444.

34 Aperçu du régime provisoire applicable A la Socété des Nations et à son personnel résidant A Genève, Département de Justice et de Police de la République et Canton de Genéve (1922). Résumé in Schöcking and Wehberg, op. cit., pp. 384—385, and extracts in 31 Annuaire de I'nstitut de Droit International (1924), pp. 15-16.

35 At the present time there appear to be about 225 persons included in the “exterritorial” personnel of the Secretariat. Corresponding officials of the International Labor Office, numbering about 200 persons, belong to the first category. See R. Secrétan, “Les ‘privilèges et immunités des agents de la Socété des Nations,” 20 Rev. de Dr. Int. Privé (1925), pp. 4-5; J. Secrétan, op. cit., p. 53; and Ottlik, Annuaire de la Société des Nations (1930), pp. 113, 263.The families of officials of the League share the condition of the head of the family if they live with him and are without profession at Geneva.

36 J. Secréan, op. cit., pp. 42—43. In some cases doubt arises as to whether a given official is a representative of a member of the League or a true international functionary. The difficulty may be illustrated by the question as to the status of the members of the Governing Body of the International Labor Office who are chosen by the workers' and employers' delegates to the Labor Conference. It appears that they are to be deemed “officials of the League” in that they are appointed by two electoral groups designated for the purpose, and do not act under the control of their governments. It appears also that members of the Advisory and Technical Commission on Communications and Transit are likewise agents of the League, since they act in the general interests of the League, their designation by states being only a method of election. As to the status of members of commissions of inquiry and investigation and of arbitral tribunals appointed by organs of the League, see 31 Annuaire de IInstttut de Droit International (1924), p. 108; Schucking and Wehberg, op. cit., 383; J. Secrétan, “Agents de la Socété des Nations,” in De Lapradelle and Niboyet, Répertoire de Droit International, Vol. I, pp. 319-320; O. J. (1921), p. 29; ibid. (1924), pp. 1349, 1594; ibid. (1925), p. 147.

37 Internal Regulations of the International Institute for Intellectual Co-operation, O. J. (1925), p. 1466; Internal Regulations of the Institute for the Unification of Private Law, Art. 15, O. J. (1928), p. 1752; General and Administrative Regulations of the International Educational Cinematographic Institute, Art. 45, O. J. (1929), p. 163.

38 O. J. (1926), p. 1407. The text of the modus vivendi is printed at p. 1422 ff., ibid. The controversy concerning the fiscal exemptions of League agents of Swiss nationality is reviewed by Francis Déak in 1 Southern California Law Review (1928), pp. 333-336.

39 See the report of M. Titulesco in presenting the agreement to the Council of the League (0. J., 1926, p. 1422), and Art. 14 of the modus vivendi.

40 31 Annuaire de IInstitut de Droit International (1924), p. 4.

41 Cf. Report, pp. 242, 246—247.

42 “For an analysis of the various meanings of “inviolability” based upon a survey of national legislation, see Hothorn, “Die völkerrechtliche Sonderstellung des Gesandten,” 14 Zeitschrift fur Völkerrecht (1928), Ergänzungsheft 3, pp. 10-15.

43 Confederation suisse c. Ivan de Justh, 22 Rev. de Dr. Int. Prié (1927), p. 550.

44 Support is given to this view by Article 261 bis of the project of the new Federal Penal Code: “Beleidigung von Volkerbundsdelegierten und Beamten des Volkerbundes: Wer einen von einem Mitglied des Volkerbundes in die Volkerbundsversammlung oder in den Rat delegierten Vertreter offentlich beleidigt, wer den Generalsekretar des Volkerbundes oder den Direktor des internationalen Arbeitsamtes offentlich beleidigt, wird mit Gefangnis oder mit Busse bestraft.” Quoted in J. Secrétan, Les immuniUs diplomatiques … , p. 71, note.

45 Art. 7, Scott, Resolutions of the Institute of International Law dealing with the Law of Nations, p. 121.

46 Von Frisch, “ Gesandten- und Gesandtschaftsrecht,” in Strupp, Worterbuch des Volker- rechts und der Diplomatic, Vol. I, p. 401; Strisower, “L'exterritorialité et ses principales applications,” 1 Becueil des Cows de l'Académie de Droit International (1923), p. 234; Strupp, Eléments du droit international public, universel, européen et américain (2d ed.), Vol. I, p. 212; Hothorn, op. cit., pp. 55 ff.

47 See J. Secrétan, op. cit., pp. 80, 94, 95; Frei, op. cit., pp. 63, 64.

48 Article 7 of the modus vivendi of 1926 provides that renunciation shall be made by the Secretary-General or by the Director of the International Labor Office.

49 De Visscher, “Les gouvernements étrangers en justice,” 3 (3d ser.), Bev. de Dr. Int. et de Lég. Comp. (1922), p. 312; Strisower, op. cit., pp. 233-235; Van Praag, Juridiclion en droit international public, pp. 323, 325; 31 Annuaire de l'Institut de Droit International (1924), pp. 9, 10.

50 Ray, Commentaire du Pacte de la Société des Nations, p. 291.

51 Federal Customs Law of November 1, 1925, Article 5.

52 See list of the communications of the Foreign Office to the President of the court concerning the immunities granted to members of the court and of the registry, Annual Report of the Permanent Court of International Justice (Series E, No. 4), p. 59.

53 Actes et documents relatifs à l'organisation de la Cour (Série D, No. 2), p. 332; 0. J. (1922), p. 568.

54 0. J. (1928), p. 980.

55 Annual Report of the Permanent Court of International Justice (Series E, No. 4), p. 49.

56 O. J. (1928), pp. 80, 431, 982-987. The text of the agreement is found at p. 985.

57 The higher functionaries of the court are defined by Article 3 of the Regulation of Application to be the Deputy-Registrar and the drafting secretaries (secréiaires-rédacteurs). The wife and unmarried children of members and higher functionaries of the court share the status of the head of the family if they live with him and have no occupation. The private staffs enjoy the same situation as that accorded the staffs of the heads of accredited missions.

58 The project of the Statute of the Permanent Court prepared by the Advisory Committee of Jurists provided that the members of the court should enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities only when outside their own countries. Advisory Committee of Jurists, Procés-verbaux of the Proceedings, p. 717. In the report of the sub-committee of the Third Commission, adopted by the Assembly on Dec. 9,1920, the rapporteur (M. Hagerup) stated: “The sub-committee has given this Article (19) a wording corresponding to that of Article 7 of the Covenant, where the question of immunities of officials of the League of Nations is dealt with. The sub-committee was of opinion that the question of the situation of judges in their own countries should not be prejudiced by the solution adopted.” Documents au sujet de mesures prises par le Conseil de la Société des Nations aux termes de l’article Hdu Pacte, p. 208. See also pp. 70, 127, ibid.

59 See Art. 2, “Resolutions concemant l'interprétation de Iart. 7 al. 4 du Pacte de la Société des Nations,” 31 Annuaire de Vlnstitut de Droit International (1924), p. 179; Report of the Director of the International Labor Office, International Labor Conference, Eighth Session (1926), Vol. II, Sec. 25, pp. 51-52; Benet, H. T. P., “Recent Developments Affecting Diplomatic Privileges,” XIII (3d ser., Pt. 1), Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law (1931), p. 84#.

60 “For a contrary view see Hill, “Rapport difinitif sur les immuniés diplomatiques et consulaires et immuniés à reconnoitre aux personnes investies de fonctions dintbrU international” Annuaire de Vlnstitut de Droit International (1927, Vol. I), p. 421JJ.