Vol. 144, No. 3 — February 03, 2010

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SOR/2010-13 January 13, 2010

FOREIGN MISSIONS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ACT

G8 Summit Privileges and Immunities Order, No. 2010-2

P.C. 2010-24 January 13, 2010

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to section 5 (see footnote a) of the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act (see footnote b), hereby makes the annexed G8 Summit Privileges and Immunities Order, No. 2010-2.

G8 SUMMIT PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES ORDER, NO. 2010-2

INTERPRETATION

1. The following definitions apply in this Order.

“Convention” means the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations set out in Schedule III to the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act. (Convention)

“experts performing missions for the Organization” means governmental or intergovernmental experts who are invited by the Organization to attend the Meeting and the preparatory meetings. (experts en mission pour l’Organisation)

“Meeting” means the meeting of the Organization to be held in Huntsville, Ontario from June 25 to 27, 2010. (réunion)

“Organization” means the intergovernmental conference of the eight leading industrialized countries, also known as the G8. (Organisation)

“preparatory meetings” means

(a) the meetings of the political directors of the G8 member countries to be held in Quebec City, Quebec from January 21 to 22, 2010, in Victoria, British Columbia from March 1 to 2, 2010, in Ottawa, Ontario on March 29, 2010, in Halifax, Nova Scotia from June 7 to 8, 2010 and in Huntsville, Ontario from June 22 to 24, 2010;

(b) the meetings of the personal representatives of the Heads of State and Government of the G8 member countries, known as sherpas, to be held in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories from February 4 to 5, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia from April 15 to 16, 2010, in Toronto, Ontario from May 27 to 28, 2010 and in Huntsville, Ontario from June 22 to 24, 2010;

(c) the meetings of the Ministers of Finance of the seven leading industrialized countries to be held in Iqaluit, Nunavut from February 5 to 6, 2010;

(d) the meetings of the personal representatives of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the G8 member countries, known as sous-sherpas, to be held in Quebec City, Quebec from February 8 to 9, 2010, in Calgary, Alberta from March 22 to 23, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia from May 10 to 11, 2010, in Toronto, Ontario from May 29 to June 1, 2010 and in Huntsville, Ontario from June 22 to 24, 2010;

(e) the meetings of the G8 Accountability Senior Level Working Group to be held in Ottawa, Ontario from March 17 to 18, 2010 and from April 28 to 29, 2010;

(f) the meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the G8 member countries to be held in Gatineau, Quebec from March 29 to 30, 2010;

(g) the meetings of the African Partnership Forum to be held in Ottawa, Ontario from April 13 to 15, 2010;

(h) the meetings of the Africa Personal Representatives to be held in Ottawa, Ontario from April 13 to 15, 2010, in Toronto, Ontario from June 1 to 2, 2010 and in Huntsville, Ontario from June 22 to 24, 2010; or

(i) any other meetings of any of the participants referred to in paragraphs (a) to (h) to be held in Canada during the period beginning on January 15, 2010 and ending on June 24, 2010. (réunions préparatoires)

PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES

2. (1) The Organization shall have in Canada during the period beginning on January 15, 2010 and ending on July 4, 2010 the legal capacity of a body corporate and the privileges and immunities set out in sections 2 to 5 of Article II of the Convention.

(2) Representatives of states and governments that are members of or participate in the Organization shall have in Canada

(a) during the period beginning on January 29, 2010 and ending on February 13, 2010, the period beginning on March 22, 2010 and ending on April 6, 2010 and the period beginning on June 15, 2010 and ending on July 4, 2010, to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in Canada in relation to the Meeting and the preparatory meetings of the Ministers of Finance and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the privileges and immunities set out in sections 11, 12 and 14 to 16 of Article IV of the Convention; and

(b) during the period beginning on January 15, 2010 and ending on July 4, 2010, to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in Canada in relation to the other preparatory meetings, the privileges and immunities set out in section 11(d) of Article IV of the Convention.

(3) Experts performing missions for the Organization shall have in Canada during the period beginning on January 15, 2010 and ending on July 4, 2010, to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in Canada in relation to the Meeting and the preparatory meetings, the privileges and immunities set out in Article VI of the Convention.

REPEAL

3. The G8 Summit Privileges and Immunities Order, 2010 (see footnote 1) is repealed.

COMING INTO FORCE

4. This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Order.)

Issue and objectives

The G8 Summit 2010, an intergovernmental conference of the eight leading industrialized countries, will be held in Huntsville, Canada, in June 2010.

In order to permit Canada to fulfill its obligations as host state and to allow participants to freely and independently exercise their functions in relation to these meetings, privileges and immunities have to be granted to the Organization, to its representatives and to its experts performing missions.

The objective of this Order is to grant privileges and immunities to the Organization, to its representatives and to its experts performing missions during the Summit 2010 and its preparatory meetings.

Description and rationale

Privileges and immunities are granted by Order of the Governor in Council following the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to section 5 of the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act (the Act) and derive from the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations (the UN Convention), as set out in Annex III of the Act.

The Order covers privileges and immunities for the organization of the G8 (2010), the representatives of states and governments that are members of or participate in the Organization and the experts performing missions for the G8 (2010) organization. The Order has also been drafted to take into account that the preparatory meeting of finance ministers in February 2010, is a meeting of the G7 finance ministers.

Organization

The organization of the G8 Summit is granted privileges and immunities as set out in Article II, sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the UN Convention. This means that any property and assets of the G8 organization enjoy immunity from any legal process and are immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action. In addition, any premises or archives are inviolable.

Representatives

The representatives of states and governments that are members of, or participate in, the Organization are conferred the privileges and immunities as set out in Article IV, sections 11, 12 and 14 to 16 of the UN Convention to the extent required for the exercise of their functions in Canada in relation to the Summit and the preparatory meetings of the Ministers of Finance and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs. These include immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of personal baggage, immunity from legal process of every kind in respect of words spoken or written and all acts done by them in their capacity as representatives, the inviolability for all papers and documents, the right to use codes and to receive papers or correspondence by courier or in sealed bags, exemption from immigration restrictions for themselves and their spouses and the same immunities in respect of personal baggage.

In relation to the other preparatory meetings, representatives of states and governments that are members of or participate in the Organization shall have in Canada, to such extent as may be required for the exercise of their functions in Canada, the privileges and immunities set out in Section 11(d) of the UN Convention, that is, exemption from immigration restrictions.

Experts

Experts performing missions for the G8 organization are granted privileges and immunities as set out in Article VI of the UN Convention. These are the same immunities as conferred upon the representatives of the member states of the G8. However, the experts performing missions enjoy a “functional” level of immunity. This means that they are accorded immunities only in the exercise of official duties or functions.

Consultation

Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Department of Justice and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are supportive of this Order.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

As the purpose of this Order is to grant specific privileges and immunities, appropriate action is to be taken on a case-by-case basis. No service standard is required.

Contact

Hugh Adsett
Director
Criminal, Security and Diplomatic Law Division
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2
Telephone: 613-995-8508
Fax: 613-944-0870

Footnote a
S.C. 2002, c. 12, s. 10

Footnote b
S.C. 1991, c. 41

Footnote 1
SOR/2009-336

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