‘Phillip Hammond, the foreign secretary, has taken the highly unusual step of criticising a high court judge’s decision to strip diplomatic immunity from a Saudi billionaire facing divorce proceedings from his estranged wife.’
The Guardian, 22nd March 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘An argument over an extension plan next door to the French embassy in London has gone global as an unlikely alliance of diplomats has formed, citing the 1961 Vienna Convention, in a bid to kill it off.’
Daily Telegraph, 9th January 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A contract of employment between a serving diplomatic agent and a domestic worker in his official diplomatic residence was not to be characterised as “commercial activity” which the diplomatic agent exercised in the jurisdiction outside of his “official functions”, so that in a claim under the contract the agent was not deprived of his immunity from civil suit by the employee since such a dispute did not come within the exception to diplomatic immunity under article 31.1(c) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), scheduled to the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964.’
WLR Daily, 5th February 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Yapp v Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2014] EWCA Civ 1512; [2014] WLR (D) 501
‘The withdrawal, on operational grounds, of the claimant from his position in the diplomatic service as a British High Commissioner constituted a breach of his contract of employment by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, but such a withdrawal was not a breach of the latter’s common law duty of care. The development of psychiatric illness suffered by the claimant in consequence of the withdrawal was too remote to foresee for a claim for compensation’
WLR Daily, 21st November 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“The powers that allow Britain’s intelligence agencies to spy on individuals, including foreign diplomats, were set out in the 1994 Intelligence Services Act (ISA). They were framed in a broad way to allow those involved in espionage to conduct all manner of operations with ministerial authority, and the types of techniques used during the G20 summit four years ago suggest a creativity and technological capability that Ian Fleming could only have dreamed of.”
The Guardian, 16th June 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“While there was nothing in section 118 of the Extradition Act 2003 to delay its operation pending the Secretary of State’s consideration of medical evidence after the conclusion of extradition statutory process, continued extra-statutory consideration of a case by the Secretary of State could be valid subject to the court’s judgment as to whether reasonable cause had been shown for delay following the conclusion of the appeal process.”
WLR Daily, 27th November 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“A former high-ranking Iranian diplomat has won a High Court battle in his attempt to avoid extradition to the US.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th November 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Wokuri v Kassam [2012] EWHC 105 (Ch); [2012] WLR (D) 13
“A diplomatic agent who had left a mission continued to enjoy immunity in respect of acts performed by him or her in the exercise of his or her functions as a member of that mission within the meaning of article 39(2) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) as scheduled to the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964. The residual immunity under article 39(2) was, however, less extensive than that enjoyed by a serving diplomat. The former diplomat would not necessarily have immunity in relation to claims by employees carrying out domestic duties.”
WLR Daily, 30th January 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“The Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni has avoided the possibility of prosecution in a British court for war crimes after the Foreign Office declared that she enjoys temporary diplomatic immunity.”
The Guardian, 6th October 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A foreign office high-flier appointed as Britain’s deputy ambassador to Kazakhstan has had her posting revoked after officials ruled that her deafness makes it too expensive to send her abroad. Jane Cordell, who was lauded for her work championing disability rights during a previous diplomatic role in Poland, is suing the Foreign Office for discrimination after being told that the additional cost of providing her with trained ‘lip speakers’ to enable her to work can no longer be justified from the public purse.”
The Independent, 14th September 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The government is moving swiftly to change the law on universal jurisdiction to abolish the ability to bring private prosecutions for international crimes in the UK.”
The Guardian, 30th May 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“New legislation that could strip magistrates of their power to issue arrest warrants for foreign dignitaries on visits to the UK has been attacked by MPs and campaigners.”
Full story
The Guardian, 15th January 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“An art exhibition that has become a pawn in the diplomatic game between London and the Kremlin could go ahead after the British Government agreed to fast-track legislation to appease Moscow.”
The Times, 21st December 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A former British diplomat yesterday denounced a lifetime confidentiality agreement demanded by the Foreign Office as ‘unworkable and draconian’, and has refused to sign it.”
The Guardian, 12th October 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Foreign Office has been accused of trying to gag diplomats for life after regulations were issued stopping them from commenting on international issues even after retirement.”
Daily Telegraph, 10th October 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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