S.I. No. 288/2019 - European Organisation For Astronomical Research In The Southern Hemisphere (Privileges And Immunities) Order 2019

1. The present Protocol shall remain in force until the expiry of the Convention Establishing the Organisation, dated 5 October 1962.

2. Any State which withdraws from the Organisation or ceases to be a member thereof as provided for in Article XI of the Convention referred to in the preceding paragraph shall cease to be a party to the present Protocol.

Article 34

This Protocol shall be interpreted in the light of its primary objective, which is to allow the Organisation fully and efficiently to fulfil its purposes and exercise the functions assigned to it by the Convention.

Article 35

Upon the entry into force of this Protocol, the Government of the French Republic shall register it with the Secretariat of the United Nations in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Done at Paris, this 12th day of July 1974 in a single original in the German, Danish, French, Dutch and Swedish languages, the French text being authoritative in the event of dispute. This copy shall be deposited in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, which shall transmit a certified copy thereof to all signatory and acceding States.

Given under the Official Seal of the Government,

25 June 2019.

LEO VARADKAR,

Taoiseach.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(

This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

This order provides that privileges and immunities are afforded to the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (otherwise known as the “European Southern Observatory”) in accordance with the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, done at Paris on 12 July 1974, pursuant to the

Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act 1967

(as amended).

3. If, within three months from the date of the notification referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 24, either party fails to make the appointment referred to in paragraph 1 of the present Article, the choice of the arbitrator shall, on request of the other party, be made by the President of the International Court of Justice from among the persons included in the list. This shall also apply, when so requested by either party, if, within one month from the date of appointment of the second arbitrator, the first two arbitrators are unable to agree on the choice of the third arbitrator. However, a national of the State which is a claimant in the arbitration may not be chosen as an arbitrator when such appointment is to be made by the Organisation, nor may a person nominated to the list by the Organisation be chosen as arbitrator when such appointment is to be made by the State which is the claimant. Persons falling into either of these two categories may not be selected as President of the Tribunal.

4. The arbitration Tribunal shall establish its own rules of procedure.

Article 26

Any dispute which may arise between the Organisation and the Government of a State party to the present Protocol concerning the interpretation or application of the present Protocol and which cannot be settled by direct negotiation shall, unless the parties agree to another method of settlement, be submitted at the request of either one of them to an arbitration Tribunal composed of three members, an arbitrator appointed by the Director-General of the Organisation or the person acting in his stead, an arbitrator appointed by the Government of the State or States parties to the present Protocol concerned and a third arbitrator appointed jointly by the two others, who should be neither an official of the Organisation nor a national of the State or States concerned and who shall be President of the Tribunal.

The request for arbitration shall include the name of the arbitrator appointed by the claimant; the respondent shall appoint his arbitrator and inform the other party of that person’s name within two months of receiving the request for arbitration. If the respondent fails to notify the name of his arbitrator within the above time or if the two arbitrators fail to agree on the choice of a third arbitrator within two months of the last arbitrator having been appointed, the arbitrator or the third arbitrator, as the case may be, shall be appointed by the President of the International Court of Justice, at the request of whichever party is first to apply to the Court.

The Tribunal shall establish its own rules of procedure. Its decisions shall be binding on the parties and shall not be subject to appeal.

Article 27

The Organisation may, if the Council so decides, conclude complementary agreements with one or more of the States party to the present Protocol in order to implement the provisions of the present Protocol.

Article 28

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

2

nd July,

2019.

WHEREAS it is enacted by

section 42A

(amended by

section 6

of the

Diplomatic Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2017

(No. 33 of 2017)) of the

Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act 1967

(No. 8 of 1967) that the Government may by order make provision to enable -

(

a

) international organisations, communities or bodies, their institutions or organs and their property, and

(

b

) persons,

to have and enjoy in the State any inviolability, exemptions, facilities, immunities, privileges or rights equivalent or having like effect to those conferred upon, or afforded in relation to, sending states, missions or international organisations under the Vienna Convention, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, or the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialised Agencies or any other international agreement scheduled to the

Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act 1967

provided for in relation to them by an international agreement or arrangement to which the State or the Government is or intends to become a party;

AND WHEREAS the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (otherwise known as the “European Southern Observatory”) is such an international organisation, community or body and the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, done at Paris on the 12 July 1974, is such an agreement;

NOW, the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by the said section 42A, hereby order as follows