USA: NEW YORK: DIPLOMATS ARE NO LONGER IMMUNE FROM PARKING FINES

Описание: (2 Apr 1997) English/Nat

Diplomats in New York are up in arms - they now have to pay their own parking tickets.

With effect from Tuesday United Nations diplomats can no longer claim immunity but can be ticketed like ordinary American citizens in New York.

In New York police can now present tickets to diplomats.

Vehicles with diplomatic licence plates are no longer immune from being fined for parking illegally.

The Russian Federation - one of the worst offender's in 1996 - are not impressed.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We believe that this is a violation of international principles and the norms of international law, as was stipulated in the legal opinion of the legal advisor of the United Nations. It is creating lots of problems to us. And certainly the conditions for diplomats in New York are becoming much worse than in quite a number of other UN capitals."
SUPER CAPTION: Sergey Lavrov, Russian Ambassador to the U-N

The controversy heated up last week when the U-N legal advisor said the City's proposal directly violated international law.

Debate in the U-N committee on relations with the U-S has been intense and uncharacteristically undiplomatic.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Diplomatic immunity is like virginity, either you have it or you have not. I have not seen the half virgin. It is time, Mr. Chairman, for the GA to reaffirm that our diplomatic immunity"
SUPER CAPTION: Jose Edward Martins Felicio, Brazilian Political Affairs Minister to U- N

According to the U-S State Department Spokesman, international law is not the issue - American law is.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Let's stop this diplomatic whining, frankly, from New York about parking tickets. They ought to pay them and first and foremost they ought to obey our laws."
SUPER CAPTION: Nicholas Burns, U-S State Department Spokesman

The City is attempting to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines from the hundreds of international missions.

The diplomats have one year to clean up their act but if they don't their licences may be revoked by the U-S State Department.

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