Q&As

Does diplomatic immunity override UK employment statutory rights?

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Published by a ÀÏ˾»úÎçÒ¹¸£Àû Employment expert
Published on: 27 February 2019
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The legal framework of diplomatic immunity is found in section 2 of the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 (DPA 1964) of which states that the Articles of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that are set out in Schedule 1 to the Act have the force of law in the UK.

One of the Articles of the Convention set out in Schedule 1 is Article 31, which describes the nature and extent of the immunity granted to ‘diplomatic Agents’. ‘Diplomatic agent’ is defined (in Article 1, which is also part of Schedule 1) as:

  1. •

    the head of the mission, or

  2. •

    any member of the staff of the mission who has diplomatic rank

Article 31(1) states that a foreign diplomatic agent, as a general rule, enjoys immunity from the civil and administrative jurisdiction of the UK. It then carves out three exceptions from that general rule, only one of which is potentially relevant in the context of employment law. That exception, found at Article 31(1)(c), states that the civil immunity will not

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Agent definition
What does Agent mean?

A person acting on behalf of an entity or person, not acquiring personal liability themselves.

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