{"id":59262,"date":"2015-07-16T13:38:18","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T13:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=6b02604b583fc9073939e5bf0b1db673"},"modified":"2015-07-16T13:38:18","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T13:38:18","slug":"statement-to-parliament-written-ministerial-statement-on-alleged-serious-and-significant-offences-diplomatic-immunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=59262","title":{"rendered":"Statement to Parliament: Written Ministerial Statement on alleged serious and significant offences (diplomatic immunity)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>In 2014, 14 serious and significant offences allegedly committed by people entitled to diplomatic<br \/>\nimmunity in the United Kingdom were drawn to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth<br \/>\nOffice by Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection of the Metropolitan Police, or other law<br \/>\nenforcement agencies. Twelve of these were driving-related. We define serious offences as those<br \/>\nwhich could, in certain circumstances, carry a penalty of 12 months\u2019 imprisonment or more. Also<br \/>\nincluded are drink-driving and driving without insurance.<\/p>\n<p>Some 22,000 people are entitled to diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom and the majority<br \/>\nof diplomats abide by UK law. The number of alleged serious crimes committed by members of<br \/>\nthe diplomatic community in the UK is proportionately low.<\/p>\n<p>Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, those entitled to immunity are<br \/>\nexpected to obey the law. The FCO does not tolerate foreign diplomats breaking the law.<br \/>\nWe take all allegations of illegal activity seriously. When instances of alleged criminal conduct are<br \/>\nbrought to our attention by the police, we ask the relevant foreign government to waive diplomatic<br \/>\nimmunity where appropriate. For the most serious offences, and when a relevant waiver has not<br \/>\nbeen granted, we seek the immediate withdrawal of the diplomat.<\/p>\n<p>Alleged serious and significant offences reported to the FCO in 2014 are listed below.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"section\">2014<\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"driving-without-insurance\">Driving without insurance<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Greece<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Algeria<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Equatorial Guinea<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mexico<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3 id=\"driving-without-insurance-driving-otherwise-than-in-accordance-with-a-licence-and-without-due-care-and-attention\">Driving without insurance, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence, and without due care and attention<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>South Africa<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3 id=\"driving-without-insurance-without-an-mot-and-with-tyres-significantly-worn-below-the-legal-limit\">Driving without insurance, without an MOT, and with tyres significantly worn below the legal limit<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Saudi Arabia<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3 id=\"driving-whilst-under-the-influence-of-alcohol-without-insurance-and-without-a-valid-licence\">Driving whilst under the influence of alcohol, without insurance, and without a valid licence<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Malawi<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3 id=\"driving-under-the-influence-of-alcohol\">Driving under the influence of alcohol<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Thailand<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Saudi Arabia<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Guatemala<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Equatorial Guinea<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3 id=\"in-charge-of-a-vehicle-under-the-influence-of-alcohol\">In charge of a vehicle under the influence of alcohol<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>China<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3 id=\"possession-of-a-firearm\">Possession of a firearm<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Saudi Arabia<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3 id=\"development-of-malware-for-the-purpose-of-fraud\">Development of malware for the purpose of fraud<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Saudi Arabia<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>We also wish to record a further four offences of conspiracy to cheat the revenue between 2009<br \/>\nand 2012, of which four former Gambian diplomats were convicted in 2014. These were not<br \/>\nrecorded in previous Written Ministerial Statements because the cases were either under<br \/>\ninvestigation or were sub judice. Their previous inclusion may have hampered investigations or<br \/>\nprejudiced the outcome of criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>Figures for previous years are available in the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign<br \/>\nand Commonwealth Affairs\u2019 written statement to the House on 15 July 2014, Official Report,<br \/>\ncolumn 50WS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Philip Hammond reports to parliament on alleged serious and significant offences (diplomatic immunity): 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}