HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF PARKING PROGRAMME, FAILS TO REACH CONSENSUS ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSIDERATION

1 April 1997

Press Release
HQ/575

HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF PARKING PROGRAMME, FAILS TO REACH CONSENSUS ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSIDERATION

19970401 Committee to Meet Again 10 April; Will Act on Proposal For Assembly Consideration if Concerns about Programme Not Addressed

The Committee on Relations with the Host Country this afternoon decided to meet again on 10 April to take up a proposal recommending that the General Assembly consider, as a matter of urgency, the parking of diplomatic vehicles in New York City.

After lengthy debate, the Committee was unable to reach a consensus decision on the proposal, which had been submitted by the representative of the Russian Federation. The Committee, instead, approved its Chairman's summary of the discussion on the issue, which called for the Committee to take action on the proposal on 10 April, unless concerns about the New York City Diplomatic Parking Programme were satisfactorily addressed.

According to the proposal, the Assembly would defer its consideration of the issue if the host country was in a position to indicate that the implementation of the parking programme, which went into effect on 1 April, had been deferred.

The representative of the United States said this afternoon that the parking programme had entered into force as of this morning and his Government believed that the city had the right to devise and implement such a programme. His Government's support was based on the city's full and complete implementation of the programme and honouring of its obligations. He proposed that the Committee reconvene in 10 days to take up the issue again and evaluate the implementation of the programme. He also expressed interest in continuing the dialogue with the United Nations Legal Counsel to resolve any differences of opinion on the issue.

The representative of the United Kingdom said the Committee should avoid taking the issue to the Assembly. A number of practical questions had been put forward and deserved answers. The Committee should draw up proposals to address both the legal and practical aspects of the problem.

Host Country Committee - 1a - Press Release HQ/575 184th Meeting (PM) 1 April 1997

Among the terms of the new parking plan was the provision that New York City would provide each mission with up to three parking spaces and a "hot line" to report unauthorized use of those spaces. On the enforcement side, the plan allowed for registration suspension and possible towing of diplomatic vehicles with "scofflaw" status -- one or more outstanding parking violations that have not been properly adjudicated for a period of 12 months or more.

In a decision issued on 20 March, the United Nations Legal Counsel had acknowledged the host country's right to establish parking regulations, but questioned the international legality of towing or other forms of fine enforcement for diplomatic personnel. During the Committee's debate on 27 March, many States said the allocation of parking spaces, the appeals process for parking tickets and the training of ticketing personnel were matters which needed to be properly addressed, before a programme could be implemented.

Statements were also made this afternoon by the representatives of the Russian Federation, France, China, Costa Rica, Brazil, Cuba and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on Relations with the Host Country met this afternoon to continue its consideration of transportation issues, including the use of motor vehicles, parking and related matters.

The Committee was expected to consider a proposal made by the representative of France at its meeting on Monday, 31 March, that the General Assembly consider, on an urgent basis, the diplomatic parking issue in New York City. The representative of France also suggested that the Assembly could postpone consideration of the issue if the host country was able to defer the implementation of the New York City Diplomatic Parking Programme, which is scheduled to take effect 1 April. Several delegations had requested a delay in taking action on the French proposal to allow them time to obtain instructions from their respective governments.

At Monday's meeting, the representative of the United States affirmed that New York City had given assurances that its Diplomatic Parking Programme and the attendant benefits were in place and would be operative on 1 April. The Department of State, on the other hand, would not be taking action on its obligations under the programme until April 1998, although earlier action might be requested on cases involving repeat offenders who parked in front of fire hydrants. He had assured the Committee that the host country would not support the programme if the City did not honour its obligations.

The new parking programme is described in a text prepared by the Chairman of the Committee (document A/AC.154/305) and a note verbale attached to a 14 March letter from the representative of the United States (document A/AC.154/306). Among the terms of the new parking plan was the provision that New York City would provide each mission with up to three parking spaces and a "hot line" to report unauthorized use of those spaces. On the enforcement side, the plan allowed for registration suspension and possible towing of diplomatic vehicles with "scofflaw" status -- one or more outstanding parking violations that had not been properly adjudicated for a period of 12 months or more.

In a decision issued on 20 March (document A/AC.154/307), the United Nations Legal Counsel had acknowledged the host country's right to establish parking regulations, but questioned the international legality of towing or other forms of fine enforcement for diplomatic personnel. During the Committee debate on 27 March, many delegations had requested a delay in implementation of the programme to allow time to discuss outstanding unresolved issues, such as the appeals process and assignment of parking spaces. At the Monday meeting, the United Nations Legal Counsel, speaking as a representative of the Secretary-General, also appealed to the host country to delay the implementation of the programme for a short time.

Host Country Committee - 3 - Press Release HQ/575 184th Meeting (PM) 1 April 1997

In a letter from the representative of the United States (document A/AC.154/309), the host country sets forth its own position on the legal aspects of the New York City programme. It reiterates the United States position that driving was not an absolute right, but a privilege that could be withdrawn in case of abuse. The State Department could extend or withhold privileges in a manner to encourage compliance with local law, so long as it did not violate a substantive international law obligation of the host country. The United States, while recognizing its obligation to provide facilities for missions to perform their functions, did not believe that the implementation of the programme would deprive missions of such facilities or interfere with internationally recognized privileges and immunities.

(For further background on the parking issue, see press releases HQ/573 issued 27 March and HQ/574 issued 31 March.)

Statements

ROBERT MOLLER (United States) said the New York City parking programme entered into force as of this morning, and his Government believed that the city had the right to devise and implement such a programme. Over the course of the day the United States Mission had been in close contact to ensure that all parts of programme were in place and operational, because the United States Government's support was based on the city's full and complete implementation of the programme.

At present, his Government had given New York City its commitment to help implement the parking programme, he said. It had also made a commitment to its colleagues of the permanent missions to bring their complaints to the city's attention. The United States was not yet in a position to make a determination on how the city was implementing its programme. He believed that it would be in better position after the programme had been in force for a few days. He proposed that the Committee reconvene in 10 days to take up the issue again and evaluate the implementation of the programme. He would also like to continue the dialogue with the United Nations Legal Counsel to resolve any differences of opinion on this issue.

NICOS AGATHOCLEOUS (Cyprus), Chairman of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, said that copies of the proposal introduced yesterday had been translated into all official languages and was available to all Member States.

Mr. MOLLER (United States) said he had not seen a copy of the proposal and would like to know which Member State had tabled the proposal.

ALEXANDRE V. ZMEEVSKI (Russian Federation) said his delegation had submitted the proposal.

Host Country Committee - 4 - Press Release HQ/575 184th Meeting (PM) 1 April 1997

HUBERT LEGAL (France) said the proposal was not a new text and had won the support of many Member States during yesterday's debate.

Mr. ZMEEVSKI (Russian Federation) said he believed an overwhelming majority had supported the proposal yesterday and could not recall if any representative had spoken against it. He would not want to break with the Committee's tradition of approving resolutions by consensus. Therefore, he would like to hear if there were any objections to the proposal. If there were objections, the Committee could call a recess to work out any differences of opinion.

Mr. MOLLER (United States) said he had problems with the proposal and was not currently able to join a consensus. However, in the spirit of cooperation, he was willing to continue the dialogue in order to reach a consensus.

WANG CHENGJUN (China) said the representative of the United States had asked the Committee to wait 10 days for another meeting on the issue. During those 10 days, how would the parking programme be implemented? Would its implementation be suspended during those 10 days? A clearer explanation was necessary for the work of the Committee.

EMILIA CASTRO DE BARISH (Costa Rica) maintained her support for a reasonable solution to the issue. The Russian Federation's proposal dealt with the situation in a fair and balanced way and needed to be implemented by both sides.

Mr. MOLLER (United States) said the position of the host country had always been that diplomats must obey the law. The Federal Government could not simply tell the local authorities what to do in the case of local laws. The United States Government was offering an element of support for the implementation of the programme. It was not asking for a long delay to give the host country time to assess the programme and see that the city was carrying out its obligations. It was premature to move the discussion to the Assembly. It was not unreasonable to continue discussion in the Committee. The Committee had for years discussed such issues effectively and fairly.

ELIZABETH WILMSHURST (United Kingdom) said she agreed that diplomats should abide by the law. There was some confusion, however, as to whether the 10-day waiting period, as put forth by the United States representative, would affect the programme's 12-month trigger provision for enforcement provisions. If there was a way to avoid taking the issue to the Assembly, it should be considered. A number of questions of a practical nature had been put forward and deserved answers. The Committee should draw up proposals to address both the legal and practical aspects of the problem.

Host Country Committee - 5 - Press Release HQ/575 184th Meeting (PM) 1 April 1997

JOSE EDUARDO MARTINS FELICIO (Brazil) said the Committee was meeting today to take a decision on the proposal. Brazil supported the proposal. It was time to seek the affirmation of the Assembly. Diplomatic immunity was like virginity -- "either you have it or you don't". There were no halfway measures in that regard. It was, therefore, time to seek the advice of the Assembly on the matter.

He said he had seen diplomatic cars being towed away and ticketed today on the first day of the programme. One of Brazil's cars had been ticketed in one of the new official diplomatic spaces. The officer writing the ticket had reportedly said that since he hadn't put up the sign, he would go ahead and write a ticket.

PEDRO NUNEZ-MOSQUERA (Cuba) expressed satisfaction over the number of delegates present at the meeting -- a reflection of the importance of the issue. He asked that the proposal be distributed to all the delegations present, as the matter affected each of them. A decision should be taken today. The consensus rule did not apply in the Assembly and need not apply to the Committee. While efforts to achieve consensus were commendable, a clear expression of determination was necessary and the Assembly must address the overall diplomatic issues.

Mr. AGATHOCLEOUS (Cyprus), the Chairman, said there were insufficient copies to distribute to all present. Only the members of the Committee would be acting on it, so they had received the available copies. He read out the text as follows:

"The Committee recommends that the General Assembly resume, as a matter of urgency, consideration of its agenda item on the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country in order to examine questions relating to the parking of diplomatic vehicles. It is understood that, if the host country is in a position to indicate in the coming week that the programme's entry into force has been deferred, the Assembly's consideration of the matter will also be deferred."

The Committee then suspended the meeting at 5:15 p.m. in order to hold further consultations and attempt to reach consensus on a text.

Following the suspension, Mr. AGATHOCLEOUS (Cyprus), the Chairman, thanked all delegations for their cooperation during the extensive consultations today and in the past two weeks. He said that it was his understanding that, unfortunately, there could not be a consensus decision.

He then read his summary, which stated that the Committee had heard a large number of statements expressing the view that the New York City Diplomatic Parking Programme was contrary to international law. It had also

Host Country Committee - 6 - Press Release HQ/575 184th Meeting (PM) 1 April 1997

received the opinion of the United Nations Legal Counsel that certain provisions of the programme were not consistent with international law. Several delegations had also called for more time to study the legal and practical applications of the programme.

Continuing with his summary, he said a large number of speakers had expressed the view that deferment of the programme was necessary. The Committee also had before it a proposal stating that the General Assembly should examine questions relating to the parking of diplomatic vehicles and that proposal had received a great deal of support from United Nations membership. In addition, the Committee took note of the host country's assurances that it would review aspects of the programme that had caused concern.

Therefore, he said, the Committee would take action on the Russian Federation's proposal concerning General Assembly consideration on 10 April unless the concerns referred to by the Committee were satisfactorily addressed at that time.

Mr. MOLLER (United States) thanked the Committee members for their cooperation in keeping the discussion within the Committee. Refering to the intervention by Brazil, he said the United States Mission wanted such specific information about the implementation of the parking programme. He urged all missions to report accordingly about their experiences with the programme to the United States Mission.

RADHIA MSUYA (United Republic of Tanzania) requested a brief suspension of the meeting so that the "Group of 77" developing countries could hold consultations.

Mr. AGATHOCLEOUS (Cyprus), the Chairman, said the meeting could not continue beyond the deadline time, since there would be no interpretation.

Mrs. CASTRO DE BARISH (Costa Rica) expressed sympathy with the request by the United Republic of Tanzania. The Group of 77 could meet in the next 10 days and bring that position to the meeting on 10 April.

Mr. ZMEEVSKI (Russian Federation) requested that the Chairman's summary be published as an official document of the Committee.

The Committee then approved, without a vote, the summary of the discussion of the parking issue as presented by the Chairman.

* *** *