Serious and Drink Driving Offences (Diplomatic Immunity) Debate
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Lord Hague of Richmond
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Serious and Drink Driving Offences (Diplomatic Immunity)
Lord Hague of Richmond Excerpts(14 years, 4 months ago)
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The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)
In 2009, seventeen serious and drink driving offences allegedly committed by people entitled to diplomatic immunity were drawn to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. “Serious Offences” are defined as offences that would, in certain circumstances, carry a penalty of 12 months or more imprisonment. Some 25,000 people are entitled to diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom.
The table below lists those foreign missions whose diplomats allegedly committed serious and drink driving offences and the type of offence from 2005-09.
2005 | |
Actual Bodily Harm | |
Jordan | 1 |
Assault (Domestic Violence) | |
Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Dangerous Driving | |
Turkey | 1 |
Driving under the Influence of Alcohol | |
Angola | 1 |
Egypt | 1 |
Ghana | 1 |
Lebanon | 1 |
Peru | 1 |
Russia | 1 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Harassment | |
Turkey | 1 |
Theft (Shoplifting) | |
Egypt | 1 |
Equatorial Guinea | 1 |
Zambia | 1 |
Theft and Robbery (of Motor Vehicle, Driving without Insurance) | |
South Africa | 1 |
2006 | |
Attempted Robbery | |
South Africa | 1 |
Deception (Going Equipped to Commit) | |
Nigeria | 1 |
Driving under the Influence of Alcohol | |
Kazakhstan | 2 |
Belarus | 1 |
Côte d’Ivoire | 1 |
Kuwait | 1 |
Malawi | 1 |
Oman | 1 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 |
South Africa | 1 |
Driving without Insurance | |
Pakistan | 1 |
Failure to Stop for Police/Driving without Insurance and Licence | |
Kazakhstan | 1 |
Robbery | |
South Africa | 1 |
Theft (Obtaining Property by Deception | |
Ghana | 1 |
2007 | |
Dangerous Driving | |
Russia | 1 |
Domestic Assault/Actual Bodily Harm | |
South Africa | 1 |
Driving without insurance | |
Ghana | 1 |
Driving without Insurance and Driving under the Influence of Alcohol | |
Malawi | 2 |
Driving under the Influence of Alcohol | |
Belarus | 1 |
Georgia | 1 |
Hungary | 1 |
Israel | 1 |
Italy | 1 |
*Other | 1 |
Kazakhstan | 1 |
Kuwait | 1 |
Moldova | 1 |
Nigeria | 1 |
Peru | 1 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Turkmenistan | 1 |
Misrepresentation (Obtaining Insurance by Deception) | |
Côte d’Ivoire | 1 |
Robbery and Actual Bodily Harm | |
Guyana | 1 |
2008 | |
Driving under the Influence of Alcohol | |
Cameroon | 1 |
Kyrgyzstan | 1 |
Morocco | 1 |
Mozambique | 1 |
Other* | 1 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Thailand | 1 |
Uganda | 1 |
Vietnam | 1 |
Theft (Shoplifting) | |
Cameroon | 1 |
2009 | |
Driving under the Influence of Alcohol | |
Brazil | 1 |
Germany | 1 |
Russia | 1 |
Tanzania | 1 |
USA | 1 |
Vietnam | 1 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Cameroon | 1 |
International Maritime Organisation | 1 |
Driving under the Influence of Alcohol and without Insurance | |
Bahrain | 1 |
Driving without Due Care and Attention | |
Ghana | 1 |
Human Trafficking | |
Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Sierra Leone | 1 |
Sexual Assault | |
Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Actual Bodily Harm | |
Nigeria | 1 |
Theft (Shoplifting) | |
Gambia | 1 |
Threatening to Kill | |
Pakistan | 1 |
Neglect of a Young Person | |
Cameroon | 1 |
*Details have been withheld because the number of diplomatic personnel in the mission(s) concerned is/are so small that disclosure would lead to the identification of the individual concerned. This would breach the data protection rights of that individual, in particular, the first data protection principle, namely, that personal data should be processed fairly. This is because the offences are only alleged to have been committed and have not been proven in a court of law. In these circumstance, section 40 (2) and (3) of the Freedom of Information Act confer an absolute exemption on disclosure of this information. |