EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES)
ACT 1963: PREPARATORY MEETING TO THE TWELFTH
ANTARCTIC TREATY CONSULTATIVE MEETING
(PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES) REGULATIONS
Statutory Rules 1983 No.52 Issued by Authority of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
The purpose of these Regulations is to accord privileges and immunities to persons attending the Preparatory Meeting of the Twelfth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM XII). The Consultative Meeting will be held in Canberra between 13 and 27 September 1983 and the Preparatory Meeting will be held in Canberra between 11 and 15 April 1983.
Both meetings will be attended by representatives of the fourteen Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs), and the September meeting may also be attended by representatives of the twelve Contracting Parties to the Antarctic Treaty which are not full Consultative Parties. ATCMs are held every two years, on a rotational basis in ATCP capitals. The main purpose of such meetings is to discuss scientific research, resource management and political questions relating to the collective management of Antarctica by the fourteen ATCPs.
The agenda for both meetings will concentrate on scientific items (telecommunications, sites of special scientific interest, man’s impact on the environment), and on a series of measures aimed at making the operation of the Antarctic Treaty system more accessible to countries now outside the Antarctic Treaty.
Representatives of ATCPs who are accredited as foreign diplomatic agents in Australia will retain their diplomatic privileges and immunities but, apart from the privileges and immunities to be accorded under these Regulations, no other privileges or immunities would be applicable to persons associated with either the Preparatory Meeting or the Consultative Meeting. In both cases international practice requires that appropriate privileges and immunities be granted.
These Regulations will declare the Preparatory Meeting of the Twelfth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting to be a conference to which S.7 of the International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 applies. This will have the effect of according diplomatic privileges and immunities to persons representing countries other than Australia at the meeting, and comparable privileges and immunities to the official staff of such representatives. Members of the Secretariat will be accorded immunity from suit and legal process in respect of their official acts only.
Similar Regulations will be drawn up in relation to the Twelfth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in September.