The Oslo and Paris Commissions (Immunities and Privileges) Order 1979

PART IIIOFFICERS

12.  Except in so far as in any particular case any privilege or immunity is waived by the Secretary of the Commission or, in the case of the Secretary, by the Oslo Commission and Paris Commission jointly, all officers of the Commission appointed or recruited for full-time employment with the Commission and subject to its staff regulations, with the exception of experts, persons who are in the domestic service of the Commission and persons who are recruited locally and assigned to hourly rates of pay, shall enjoy:—

(a)immunity from suit and legal process in respect of things done or omitted to be done by them in the exercise of their functions, except in the case of a motor traffic offence committed by an officer or in the case of damage caused by a vehicle belonging to or driven by him;

(b)as from the date on which the salaries and emoluments received by them as officers of the Commission become subject to taxation by the Commission for its benefit, exemption from income tax in respect of such salaries and emoluments, provided that nothing in this subparagraph shall be interpreted as precluding such salaries and emoluments from being taken into account for the purpose of assessing the amount of taxation to be applied to income from other sources;

(c)unless they are citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies or permanently resident in the United Kingdom, the like exemption from duties and taxes on the importation of furniture and personal effects (including one motor car each) which—

(i)at the time when they first enter the United Kingdom to take up their post, are imported for their personal use or for their establishment, and

(ii)were in their ownership or possession or which they were under contract to purchase immediately before they so entered the United Kingdom,

as in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 36 of the 1961 Convention Articles is accorded to a diplomatic agent;

(d)unless they are citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies or permanently resident in the United Kingdom, and provided that they are participating in a social security scheme established by the Commission or in another such scheme, exemptions whereby for the purposes of the enactments relating to social security, including enactments in force in Northern Ireland—

(i)services rendered for the Commission by them shall be deemed to be excepted from any class of employment in respect of which contributions or premiums under those enactments are payable, but

(ii)no person shall be rendered liable to pay any contribution or premium which he would not be required to pay if those services were not deemed to be so excepted.