S.I. No. 141/1974 - European University Institute (Designation of Organisation and Immunities of Organisation and Its Officers and Servants) Order, 1974.


S.I. No. 141 of 1974.

EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE (DESIGNATION OF ORGANISATION AND IMMUNITIES OF ORGANISATION AND ITS OFFICERS AND SERVANTS) ORDER, 1974.

WHEREAS it is enacted by section 40 (1) of the Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act, 1967 (No. 8 of 1967), that the Government may by order designate an international organisation of which the State or the Government is or intends to become a member to be an organisation to which Part VIII of that Act applies:

AND WHEREAS the European University Institute is an organisation such as aforesaid:

NOW the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 40 of the said Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act, 1967 , hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the European University Institute (Designation of Organisation and Immunities of Organisation and its Officers and Servants) Order, 1974.

2. The European University Institute established by the Convention setting up a European University Institute done at Florence on the 19th day of April, 1972 is hereby designated as an organisation to which Part VIII of the Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act, 1967 (No. 8 of 1967), applies.

3. The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European University Institute done at Florence on the 19th day of April, 1972, (a copy of which is set out in the Schedule hereto) shall apply for the purposes of section 42 of the Diplomatic Relations Act, 1967.

SCHEDULE.

PROTOCOL ON THE PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE.

The States parties to the Convention setting up a European University Institute, signed at Florence on the 19th day of April, 1972,

DESIRING to define the privileges and immunities necessary to ensure the smooth running of that Institute HAVE AGREED on the following provisions:

CHAPTER I.

Arrangements for the Institute.

ARTICLE 1.

The European University Institute (hereinafter called the "Institute") shall enjoy immunity from enforcement in the exercise of its official activities, except:

( a ) in respect of a civil action brought by a third party for damage arising from an accident caused by a motor vehicle belonging to, or operated on behalf of, the Institute, or in respect of a motor traffic offence involving such a vehicle;

( b ) in respect of the enforcement of an arbitration award or a judicial decision under a provision of the Convention or of this Protocol;

( c ) where the High Council, acting unanimously, has waived such immunity in any particular case.

ARTICLE 2.

1. The premises and buildings of the Institute shall be inviolable. This provision shall not prevent the implementation of measures taken pursuant to Article 19 of this Protocol or authorised by the High Council acting unanimously.

2. The Institute shall not allow its premises and buildings to be used as a refuge by a person having just committed an offence in flagrante delicto, or in respect of whom a warrant for arrest has been issued, or who has been convicted or is subject to a deportation order.

3. The archives of the Institute shall be inviolable.

ARTICLE 3.

Save as provided in Article 1 (a), (b) and (c), the property and assets of the Institute shall be immune from any form of administrative or provisional judicial constraint such as requisition, confiscation, expropriation or attachment.

ARTICLE 4.

1. Without prejudice to national provisions safeguarding the artistic and cultural heritage of Contracting States, goods imported or exported by the Institute and strictly necessary for the exercise of its official activities shall be exempt from any turnover tax, customs duties and other taxes or charges, and from all prohibitions and restrictions on import or export.

2. The circulation of publications and other information material sent by or to the Institute in the course of its official activities shall not be restricted in any way.

3. For its official communications and the transmission of all its documents, the Institute shall enjoy in the territory of each Contracting State the treatment accorded by that State to international organisations. Official correspondence and other official communications of the Institute shall not be subject to censorship.

ARTICLE 5.

1. Within the scope of its official activities, the Institute, its assets, income and other property shall be exempt from all direct taxes.

2. When the Institute makes substantial purchases which are strictly necessary for the exercise of its official activities, the price of which includes indirect taxes or sales taxes, the Contracting States shall, whenever possible, take the appropriate measures to remit or refund the amount of such taxes.

3. No exemption shall be accorded in respect of taxes and dues which amount merely to charges for public utility services.

ARTICLE 6.

The Institute may receive and hold any kind of funds, currency, cash or securities; subject to national provisions on exchange control, it may dispose of them freely in the exercise of its official activities and hold accounts in any currency to the extent required to meet its obligations.

CHAPTER II

Arrangements concerning representatives of the Contracting States, and the Principal, Secretary teaching staff and other persons connected with the Institute.

ARTICLE 7.

Representatives of Contracting States and their advisors taking part in the meetings of the High Council of the Institute shall, in the course of performing their duties and while they are travelling to and from places of meeting, enjoy the following privileges, immunities and facilities;

( a ) immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of their personal luggage, except when found in the act of committing an offence;

( b ) immunity from legal proceedings, even after the termination of their mission, in respect of acts performed by them in their official capacity and within the limits of their functions, including their words spoken and written;

( c ) inviolability for official papers and documents;

( d ) all the customary administrative facilities, particularly with regard to travel or stay.

This Article shall also apply to the representative of the European Communities taking part in meetings of the High Council.

ARTICLE 8.

The Contracting States. in close co-operation with the Institute, shall take all measures within their power to ensure that all necessary administrative facilities, particularly with regard to travel, stay and currency exchange, are granted to persons taking part in the work of the Institute, especially those referred to in Article 9 (3) of the Convention.

ARTICLE 9.

1. The Principal, Secretary and, subject to Article 13, the teaching staff and other staff of the Institute shall:

( a ) be immune from legal proceedings, even after they have left the service of the Institute, in respect of acts done by them in the exercise and within the limits of their functions including words written and spoken; this immunity shall not apply in the case of a motor traffic offence committed by such persons, nor in the case of damage caused by a motor vehicle belonging to or driven by such persons;

( b ) together with those members of their families forming part of their households, benefit from such exemption from immigration restrictions or formalities for the registration of aliens as is customarily accorded to the staff of international organisations;

( c ) in respect of currency or exchange regulations, be accorded the same privileges as are customarily accorded to the staff of international organisations;

( d ) have the right to import free of duty their furniture, effects and a motor car for their personal use at the time of first taking up their post in the State concerned for a period of one year or more and the right to re-export free of duty their furniture, personal effects and motor car for their personal use on termination of their duties in that State, subject in either case to the conditions and restrictions imposed by the national law of the State in which this right is exercised.

2. The Contracting States shall, in close co-operation with the Institute, take all appropriate measures to facilitate the entry, stay and departure of persons entitled to benefit from the provisions of this Article.

ARTICLE 10.

The Contracting States shall, in close co-operation with the Institute, take all appropriate measures to facilitate the entry, stay and departure of research students.

ARTICLE 11.

1. The scheme of social security benefits for the Principal, the Secretary, the teaching staff and other staff and research students shall be set out in the Service Rules and in other rules.

If provision is not made for such benefits, the persons referred to in the preceding subparagraphs may opt for the scheme either under the law of the State in which the Institute has its seat, or under the law of the Contracting State to which they were last subject, or under that of the Contracting State of which they are nationals.

This option may be exercised once only and shall take effect from the date of taking up employment with the Institute.

2. Members of the teaching staff and research students who are nationals of States other than the Contracting States shall be covered by appropriate provisions in the Service Rules or by other rules.

ARTICLE 12.

1. The Principal, Secretary, teaching staff and other staff of the Institute shall be liable to a tax for the benefit of the Institute on salaries, wages and emoluments paid by the Institute, in accordance with the conditions and procedure to be laid down by the High Council within one year from the entry into force of the Convention. From the date on which this tax is applied, such salaries and emoluments shall be exempt from national income tax; but the Contracting States shall retain the right to take these salaries and emoluments into account for the purpose of assessing the amount of taxation to be applied to income from other sources.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to pensions and annuities paid by the Institute to former Principals or Secretaries or to former members of the teaching staff or other members of staff.

3. In the application of income tax, wealth tax and death duties and in the application of conventions on the avoidance of double taxation concluded between Contracting States, the Principal, Secretary, teaching staff and other staff of the Institute who, solely by reason of the performance of their duties in the service of the Institute, establish their residence in the territory of a Contracting State other than their country of domicile for tax purposes at the time of entering the service of the Institute, shall be considered, both in the country of their actual residence and in the country of domicile for tax purposes, as having maintained their domicile in the latter country provided that it is a Contracting State. This provision shall also apply to a spouse to the extent that the latter is not separately engaged in a gainful occupation, and to children dependent on and in the care of the persons referred to in this Article.

ARTICLE 13.

The High Council shall, acting unanimously, determine the categories of persons among the staff to whom the provisions of Articles 9 to 12 shall apply, in whole or in part.

CHAPTER III.

General provisions.

ARTICLE 14.

1. Privileges, immunities and facilities under this Protocol shall be accorded solely in the interests of the Contracting States or of the Institute and not for the personal advantage of the beneficiaries.

2. The competent authorities have not only the right but also the duty to waive an immunity when such immunity impedes the course of justice and when it is possible to dispense with the immunity without jeopardising the purposes for which it is accorded.

3. The competent authorities referred to in paragraph 2 shall be:

— the Contracting States, as regards their representatives meeting in the High Council of the Institute;

— the Institute of the European Communities, as regards the representative of the European Communities taking part in the meetings of the High Council of the Institute;

— the High Council of the Institute, as regards the Principal and the Secretary;

— the Principal of the Institute as regards members of the teaching staff and other members of staff of the Institute.

ARTICLE 15.

This Protocol shall in no way affect the right of each Contracting State to take all precautionary measures necessary in the interests of its security.

ARTICLE 16.

No Contracting State is obliged to accord the privileges and immunities referred to in Articles 7, Article 9 (c) and (d) and Article 10 to its own nationals and permanent residents.

ARTICLE 17.

For the purposes of this Protocol, the official activities of the Institute include its administrative functioning and its teaching and research activities in pursuance of the purposes set out in the Convention setting up a European University Institute.

ARTICLE 18.

Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 9 (1) (d), no exemption shall be accorded in respect of goods for the personal benefit of the staff of the Institute.

Goods imported or acquired under this Protocol shall not be sold, given away or hired out except under the conditions laid down by the Governments of the States which have granted exemptions.

ARTICLE 19.

1. The provisions of this Protocol shall be applied in a spirit of close co-operation by the Principal of the Institute and the competent authorities of the Contracting States in order to facilitate, while respecting the independence of the Institute, the proper administration of justice, the application of social legislation, police, safety or public health regulations and to prevent any abuse of the privileges, immunities and facilities provided for in this Protocol. The procedure for co-operation mentioned in this paragraph may be laid down in the supplementary agreements provided for in Article 20.

2. The name, position and address of the persons benefiting from the provisions of Articles 9 to 12 and the arrangements for them shall be communicated from time to time to the Governments of the Contracting States.

ARTICLE 20.

Supplementary agreements may be concluded between the Institute and one or more Contracting States for the purpose of implementing and applying this Protocol. The High Council shall, acting unanimously, take decisions concerning the application of this Article.

ARTICLE 21.

The provisions of Article 29 of the Convention shall apply to disputes concerning this Protocol.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government, this 20th day

of June, 1974.

LIAM COSGRAVE,

Taoiseach.