Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

Article 36

1. The receiving State shall, in accordance with such laws and regulations
as it may adopt, permit entry of and grant exemption from all customs
duties, taxes, and related charges other than charges for storage, cartage
and similar services, on:

(a) articles for the official use of the mission;
(b) articles for the personal use of a diplomatic agent or members of his
family forming part of his household, including articles intended for
his establishment.

2. The personal baggage of a diplomatic agent shall be exempt from
inspection, unless there are serious grounds for presuming that it contains
articles not covered by the exemptions mentioned in paragraph 1 of this
Article, or articles the import or export of which is prohibited by the law
or controlled by the quarantine regulations of the receiving State. Such
inspection shall be conducted only in the presence of the diplomatic agent
or of his authorized representative.

Article 37

1. The members of the family of a diplomatic agent forming part of his
household shall, if they are not nationals of the receiving State, enjoy
the privileges and immunities specified in Articles 29 to 36.

2. Members of the administrative and technical staff of the mission,
together with members of their families forming part of their respective
households, shall, if they are not nationals of or permanently resident in
the receiving State, enjoy the privileges and immunities specified in
Articles 29 to 35, except that the immunity from civil and administrative
jurisdiction of the receiving State specified in paragraph 1 of Article 31
shall not extend to acts performed outside the course of their duties. They
shall also enjoy the privileges specified in Article 36, paragraph 1, in
respect of articles imported at the time of first installation.

3. Members of the service staff of the mission who are not nationals of or
permanently resident in the receiving State shall enjoy immunity in respect
of acts performed in the course of their duties, exemption from dues and
taxes on the emoluments they receive by reason of their employment and the
exemption contained in Article 33.

4. Private servants of members of the mission shall, if they are not
nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State, be exempt from
dues and taxes on the emoluments they receive by reason of their
employment. In other respects, they may enjoy privileges and immunities
only to the extent admitted by the receiving State. However, the receiving
State must exercise its jurisdiction over those persons in such a manner as
not to interfere unduly with the performance of the functions of the
mission.

Article 38

1. Except insofar as additional privileges and immunities may be granted by
the receiving State, a diplomatic agent who is a national of or permanently
resident in that State shall enjoy only immunity from jurisdiction, and
inviolability, in respect of official acts performed in the exercise of his
functions.

2. Other members of the staff of the mission and private servants who are
nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State shall enjoy
privileges and immunities only to the extent admitted by the receiving
State. However, the receiving State must exercise its jurisdiction over
those persons in such a manner as not to interfere unduly with the
performance of the functions of the mission.

Article 39

1. Every person entitled to privileges and immunities shall enjoy them from
the moment he enters the territory of the receiving State on proceeding to
take up his post or, if already in its territory, from the moment when his
appointment is notified to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or such other
ministry as may be agreed.

2. When the functions of a person enjoying privileges and immunities have
come to an end, such privileges and immunities shall normally cease at the
moment when he leaves the country, or on expiry of a reasonable period in
which to do so, but shall subsist until that time, even in case of armed
conflict. However, with respect to acts performed by such a person in the
exercise of his functions as a member of the mission, immunity shall
continue to subsist.

3. In case of the death of a member of the mission, the members of his
family shall continue to enjoy the privileges and immunities to which they
are entitled until the expiry of a reasonable period in which to leave the
country.

4. In the event of the death of a member of the mission not a national of
or permanently resident in the receiving State or a member of his family
forming part of his household, the receiving State shall permit the
withdrawal of the movable property of the deceased, with the exception of
any property acquired in the country the export of which was prohibited at
the time of his death. Estate, succession and inheritance duties shall not
be levied on movable property the presence of which in the receiving State
was due solely to the presence there of the deceased as a member of the
mission or as a member of the family of a member of the mission.

Article 40

1. If a diplomatic agent passes through or is in the territory of a third
State, which has granted him a passport visa if such visa was necessary,
while proceeding to take up or to return to his post, or when returning to
his own country, the third State shall accord him inviolability and such
other immunities as may be required to ensure his transit or return. The
same shall apply in the case of any members of his family enjoying
privileges or immunities who are accompanying the diplomatic agent, or
travelling separately to join him or to return to their country.

2. In circumstances similar to those specified in paragraph 1 of this
Article, third States shall not hinder the passage of members of the
administrative and technical or service staff of a mission, and of members
of their families, through their territories.

3. Third States shall accord to official correspondence and other official
communications in transit, including messages in code or cipher, the same
freedom and protection as is accorded by the receiving State. They shall
accord to diplomatic couriers, who have been granted a passport visa if
such visa was necessary, and diplomatic bags in transit the same
inviolability and protection as the receiving State is bound to accord.

4. The obligations of third States under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this
Article shall also apply to the persons mentioned respectively in those
paragraphs, and to official communications and diplomatic bags, whose
presence in the territory of the third State is due to force majeure.

Article 41

1. Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of
all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and
regulations of the receiving State. They also have a duty not to interfere
in the internal affairs of that State.

2. All official business with the receiving State entrusted to the mission
by the sending State shall be conducted with or through the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs of the receiving State or such other ministry as may be
agreed.

3. The premises of the mission must not be used in any manner incompatible
with the functions of the mission as laid down in the present Convention or
by other rules of general international law or by any special agreements in
force between the sending and the receiving State.

Article 42

A diplomatic agent shall not in the receiving State practise for personal
profit any professional or commercial activity.

Article 43

The function of a diplomatic agent comes to an end, inter alia:

(a) on notification by the sending State to the receiving State that the
function of the diplomatic agent has come to an end;
(b) on notification by the receiving State to the sending State that, in
accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 9, it refuses to recognize the
diplomatic agent as a member of the mission.

Article 44

The receiving State must, even in case of armed conflict, grant facilities
in order to enable persons enjoying privileges and immunities, other than
nationals of the receiving State, and members of the families of such
persons irrespective of their nationality, to leave at the earliest
possible moment. It must, in particular, in case of need, place at their
disposal the necessary means of transport for themselves and their
property.

Author: international