An Agreement between
the French Government as represented by M. ANGAMMARRE, Governor of
New Caledonia and Dependencies,
and
the South Pacific Commission as represented by its Secretary-General,
Sir Brian FREESTON,
has been concluded as follows:
HEADING I - CAPACITY
ARTICLE 1. - The South Pacific Commission, (hereinafter
referred to as "the Commission"), shall have the capacity
to conclude contracts, to acquire and dispose of movable and
immovable property and to institute legal proceedings.
The Secretary-General of the Commission shall be empowered, in the
name of the Commission, to take all necessary steps to this effect,
insofar as he has been authorised so to do by the Commission.
ARTICLE 2. - The Secretary-General shall co-operate at all
times with the French authorities. He shall support any action
necessary to the proper administration of justice and to the
scrupulous observance of police regulations, and shall avoid the
occurrence of any abuse in connection with the privileges,
immunities, exemptions and facilities enumerated in the present Agreement.
HEADING II - ASSETS, INCOME AND OTHER PROPERTY.
ARTICLE 3. - The Commission, its property and assets shall
enjoy legal immunity, except where it shall expressly renounce this
immunity by contract or otherwise.
No waiver of immunity shall extend to measures of execution or
detention of property.
ARTICLE 4. - The Commission premises shall be inviolable. Its
property, movable and immovable, shall be immune from search,
requisition, confiscation, expropriation or any other form of
interference whether by administrative or judicial action, provided
that the Commission shall not allow its premises to be used or to
serve as a refuge for any person against whom legal process has been
issued by the French authorities. [This article was apparently
amended in 1995, but the text was never made public]
ARTICLE 5. - The archives of the Commission and, in general,
all documents belonging to it or held by it, shall be inviolable.
ARTICLE 6. - Subject to any regulation by which the French
Government may control the transfer of funds, gold or currency in
respect of any territory under its jurisdiction:
a) The Commission may hold currency of any kind and operate accounts
in any currency.
b) The Commission may freely transfer its funds outside French
territories and convert any currency held by it into the currency of
any other member country.
c) In exercising its rights under sub-paragraph (a) and (b) above,
the Commission shall have regard to any representations made by the
French Government, and shall give effect to such representations,
insofar as it considers this can be done without detriment to the
interests of the Commission.
ARTICLE 7. - The Commission, its assets, income and other
property shall be exempt:
a) from all direct taxes; the Commission will not however, claim
exemption from taxes which are no more than charges for public
utility services;
b) from all customs duties, prohibitions and restrictions of import
and export in respect of articles required by the Commission for its
official use; articles imported under such exemption will not be sold
in the country into which they are imported and shall not be given
away, except under derogation approved by the French Government;
c) from all customs duties, prohibitions and restrictions of import
and export in respect of its publications.
ARTICLE 8: - The Commission shall not claim exemption from any
taxes on property movable and immovable, which form part of the price
to be paid.
HEADING III - COMMUNICATIONS
ARTICLE 9. - For its official correspondence, the Commission
shall enjoy treatment at least as favourable as that accorded by the
French Government to the diplomatic missions accredited to it, in the
matter of telegraphic, telephonic and postal franking, rates and
taxes, correspondence priorities, and the use of mail bags and couriers.
HEADING IV - IMMUNITIES AND PRIVILEGES OF COMMISSIONERS
ARTICLE 10. - Commissioners shall, while exercising their
functions and during journeys to and from the place of meeting, enjoy
the following privileges and immunities:
a) immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of
their personal baggage, and, in respect of words spoken or written
and all acts done by them in their official capacity, immunity from
legal process;
b) inviolability of all documents and archives;
c) the right to use codes and to receive documents or correspondence
by courier or in sealed bags;
d) exemption in respect of themselves, and their spouses from
immigration restrictions, aliens' registration, or national service
obligations in the French territories which they are visiting or
through which they are passing in the exercise of their functions;
e) the same facilities as representatives of foreign governments on
temporary official missions, with regard to restrictions on
currencies and exchange;
f) the same courtesies as members of diplomatic missions of equal
rank, as regards their personal luggage, and freedom to transport
furniture to French territories;
g) exemption from consideration as residence, when residence involves
the payment of taxes of any kind, of periods during which
Commissioners to the main organisation and the branch organisations
of the Commission and to conferences convened by the Commission are
in a French territory for the discharge of their functions.
ARTICLE 11. - In order to secure for the Commissioners
complete freedom of speech and complete independence in the discharge
of their duties, the immunity from legal process in respect of words
spoken or written and all actions performed in the discharge of their
duties, shall continue to be accorded, notwithstanding that the
persons concerned are no longer engaged in the discharge of such duties.
ARTICLE 12. - Privileges and immunities are accorded to
Commissioners, not for the personal benefit of the individuals
themselves, but in order to safeguard the independent exercise of
their functions in connection with the Commission. Consequently, the
French government not only has the right, but is under a duty to
waive the immunity of its Commissioners in any case where in the
opinion of that Government, the immunity would impede the course of
justice, and where it can be waived without prejudice to the purposes
for which the immunity is accorded.
ARTICLE 13. -
a) The provisions of Articles 10, 11 and 12 shall not be applicable
to French nationals.
b) In Articles 10, 11 and 12 above, the expression
"commissioners" shall be deemed to include all
commissioners and alternates, delegation advisers, technical experts
and secretaries and members of the Research Council (other than
permanent members), who shall enjoy, in the discharge of their
functions and in their travels, the same privileges and immunities as Commissioners.
[EDITORS NOTE: Does the fact that Commissioners no longer exist mean
that all of HEADING IV is redundant? Or are country delegates to SPC
meetings now classed as "commissioners" for the purpose of
this Agreement, since they fulfil pretty much the same functions?]
HEADING V - OFFICIALS OF THE COMMISSION
ARTICLE 14. - In addition to the privileges and immunities
specified in Article 16 hereunder, the Secretary-General, Deputy
Chairman of the Research Council and Deputy Secretary-General shall
be accorded in respect of themselves, their spouses and minor
children, the privileges and immunities, exemptions and facilities
accorded to diplomatic envoys in conformity with international law.
ARTICLE 15.- The French Government and the Commission shall
determine, by common accord, the holders of Commission posts to be
considered officials of the Commission.
The holders, whose names shall be communicated regularly to the
French Government by the Secretary-General, shall be subject to the
provisions of Article 16 hereunder.
ARTICLE 16. - Officials of the Commission shall:
a) be immune from legal process in respect of words spoken or written
and all acts performed by them in their official capacity, and within
the limits of their authority;
b) be exempt from taxation on salaries and emoluments, unless the
member States agree to a system whereby the salaries and emoluments
in question would be taxed by the Organisation itself, and subject to
the possibility of the French Government's taxing its own nationals;
c) be immune, together with their spouses and dependents, from
immigration restrictions and aliens' registration formalities;
[EDITORS NOTE: This is particularly relevant for any spouse who
travels separately and finds it difficult to get a visa on first
entering New Caledonia, but can prove that they are married to an SPC
official - which has happened]
d) enjoy the same privileges in respect of exchange facilities as are
accorded to officials of comparable rank forming part of diplomatic
missions to the French Government;
e) be given, together with their spouses and dependents the same
repatriation facilities in times of international crisis as
diplomatic envoys;
f) have the right to import their furniture and personal effects at
the time of first taking up their post, without paying customs duties
in the French territory where they are domiciled, in the discharge of
their functions.
ARTICLE 17.- Privileges and immunities shall be granted to
officials in the interests of the Commission and not for personal
benefit of the individuals themselves. The Commission shall have the
right and the duty to waive, by a majority decision of the members
present, the immunity of any official in any case where, in its
opinion, the immunity would impede the course of justice.
The Commission shall have the right to waive, under the same
conditions, the immunity of the Secretary-General.
[EDITORS NOTE: Presumably the "Commission" in the sense of
Article 17 means the Conference]
HEADING VI - "CARTES DE SERVICE"
ARTICLE 18. - The Commission may issue "cartes de
service" to its officials. The "carte de service" in
French, English and Dutch, when accompanied by a valid passport,
shall be recognised and accepted by the authorities of the French
government as a document of identification and recommendation.
Application for visas, where required, from the holders of a
Commission "carte de service", when accompanied by a
certificate testifying that they are travelling on the business of
the Commission, shall be dealt with as speedily as possible. In
addition, such persons shall be granted every facility for speedy travel.
The Secretary-General of the Commission shall notify the French
Government of the names and particulars of the persons to whom
"cartes de service" are issued.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Presumably the need for Dutch wording in "cartes
de service" has been repealed. Also, it is comforting to know
that the immigration service will deal with visas as quickly as possible.]
HEADING VII - ABUSE OF PRIVILEGES
ARTICLE 19. - If the French Government shall consider that there has
been an abuse, by the Commission or by any person belonging to it or
depending on it, of a privilege or an immunity conferred by this
agreement, the French Government and the other member Governments
shall consult, in order to determine whether or not there has been an
abuse, and, if so, shall take appropriate measures to prevent its
repetition. In the event of the results of these consultations being
unsatisfactory to any one of the Governments concerned, the question
as to whether there has or has not been an abuse of privilege shall
be submitted to the President of the International Court of Justice,
in accordance with the provisions of Article 21.
In the event of the President's deciding that there has been an
abuse, the French Government shall have the right, after notifying
the Commission, to withdraw from the latter the benefit of the
privilege or immunity which has been abused, in order to prevent
repetition of the abuse.
The Secretary-General of the Commission, in the exercise of his
functions and in the course of his travel in the Commission's area of
activity and the officials who come within the provisions of Article
15, cannot be obliged by the territorial authorities to leave the
country in which they exercise their functions, by reason of acts
committed by them in their official capacity and within the limits of
their authority.
However, in the event of such an official on duty in that country
abusing his privileges of residence, he may be requested to leave by
the French Government.
a) The Secretary-General of the Commission can be obliged to leave
the territory only in accordance with the diplomatic procedure
applicable to the diplomatic envoys accredited to France.
b) When an order to leave the territory has been issued to an
official, the Secretary-General of the Commission shall be notified.
He shall be able to address to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of
the French Republic, through the French Government's Commissioner,
all the information which he may deem appropriate to justify, if
necessary, a revision of the decision made.
HEADING VIII - PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
ARTICLE 20. - The French Government may take, in the territories
under its administration, all precautionary measures essential for
national security, for the maintenance of public order, the
prevention and repression of all infringements of the law or hostile
or inimical activities, on the understanding that such measures will
not encroach on the independence of the Commission.
HEADING IX - FINAL PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 21. - Any difference of opinion on the interpretation or the
application of the present Agreement which cannot be settled by
common accord shall be submitted to a single arbitrator chosen by the
member Governments of the Commission; or, in the event of the latter
being unable to agree to this effect, by the President of the
International Court of Justice, whose decision shall be regarded as final.
ARTICLE 22. - Ratification of the present Agreement by the French
Government shall be effected by deposit with the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs of the French Republic of an Instrument of Ratification.
ARTICLE 23. - The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the French Republic
shall inform the Commission of the deposit of the Instrument of Ratification.
ARTICLE 24. - The present Agreement shall come into force as soon as
the Instrument of Ratification has been deposited in conformity with
Article 22.
It may be terminated by both parties and, in this event, shall cease
to be operative six months after such termination.
ARTICLE 25. - By common accord, the French Government and the
Commission may conclude supplementary agreements modifying the
provisions of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 26. - The privileges and immunities contained in this
Agreement shall be accorded in French territories within the
territorial scope of the Commission, and on French metropolitan
territory. At the discretion of the French Government, they may be
accorded in non-metropolitan, dependent, associated or trust
territories outside the territorial scope of the Commission.
ARTICLE 27. - The present Agreement shall be drafted in the French,
English and Dutch languages, the French text alone being authentic.
Done in duplicate, in Noumea
the 20th February, 1953.
For the South Pacific Commission,
sgd. L. BRIAN FREESTON
For the French Government,
sgd. R. ANGAMMARRE
