PART IIIREPRESENTATIVES
13.—(1) Except in so far as in any particular case any privilege or immunity is waived by the Government of the Party which they represent, representatives of Parties shall enjoy, while exercising their official functions and in the course of their journeys to and from the place of meeting—
(a)immunity from any form of arrest and detention and from seizure of their personal baggage, except in the case of a grave crime, or when they are found committing, attempting to commit or just having committed a criminal offence;
(b)immunity from suit and legal process (even after the termination of their mission) in respect of acts, including words written or spoken, done by them in the exercise of their functions, except in respect of (i) traffic offences committed by a representative, and (ii) damage caused by a vehicle or other means of transport belonging to or driven by a representative; and
(c)the like inviolability for all their official papers and documents as is accorded to diplomatic agents.
(2) Part IV of Schedule 1 to the Act shall not operate so as to confer any privilege or immunity on the official staff of representatives, other than their advisers.
(3) Part IV of Schedule 1 to the Act shall not operate so as to confer any privilege or immunity on any member of the family of a representative or of a representative’s adviser.
(4) Neither the provisions of the preceding paragraphs of this Article, nor those of Part IV of Schedule 1 to the Act, shall operate so as to confer—
(a)any privilege or immunity on any person as the representative of the United Kingdom or as his adviser or as a member of his staff; or
(b)any privilege or immunity on any person who is a United Kingdom national or a permanent resident of the United Kingdom.
(5) In this Article, “grave crime” has the same meaning as in section 1(2) of the Consular Relations Act 1968().