Meeting of the Parliament 26 April 2017
I am afraid that I have only a few seconds left.
There is, however, an exception to that position in the case of motor traffic offences committed by such officials or of damage caused by motor vehicles belonging to or driven by them.
If such privileges and immunities were not extended to officials of international organisations in Scotland, all that would happen would be that such organisations would not carry out any work in Scotland, to the detriment of the Scottish economy and the general standing of Scotland in the international community.
There is also the fact that the privileges and immunities are reciprocal, so Scottish and other UK officials working for international organisations abroad will be entitled to equivalent benefits.
To the extent that the privileges and immunities relate to devolved matters in Scotland, conferral of those rights falls to the Scottish Parliament and it is therefore right that this Parliament should follow the Justice Committee’s recommendation and approve the order.