[governance] Egmont Group granted International Organization Status

Fri Apr 20 15:43:13 EDT 2007

Thought the following announcement could be of interest to this list.  
Specially in the context of the internationalization of ICANN

http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2007/20070418/html/sor67-e.html

 From the Canadian (Government Gazette)
Vol. 141, No. 8 — April 18, 2007

Registration
SOR/2007-67 March 29, 2007

FOREIGN MISSIONS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ACT

Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units Privileges and  
Immunities Order

P.C. 2007-434 March 29, 2007

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation  
of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance,  
pursuant to section 5 (see footnote a) of the Foreign Missions and  
International Organizations Act(see footnote b), hereby makes the  
annexed Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units Privileges and  
Immunities Order.

EGMONT GROUP OF FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE UNITS PRIVILEGES AND  
IMMUNITIES ORDER

INTERPRETATION

1. The following definitions apply in this Order.

"United Nations 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 des  
Nations Unies)

"Organization" means the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence  
Units. (Organisation)

"Vienna Convention" means the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic  
Relations set out in Schedule I to the Foreign Missions and  
International Organizations Act. (Convention de Vienne)

PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES

2. (1) The Organization shall have in Canada the legal capacities of  
a body corporate and the privileges and immunities set out in  
Articles II and III of the United Nations Convention.

(2) Officials of the Organization shall have in Canada, to the extent  
that may be required for the exercise of their functions in relation  
to the Organization, the privileges and immunities set out in section  
18 of Article V of the United Nations Convention.

(3) In addition to the privileges and immunities accorded to  
officials under subsection (2), the Executive Secretary of the  
Secretariat of the Organization, together with the members of his or  
her family forming part of his or her household, shall have in Canada  
privileges and immunities comparable to the privileges and immunities  
accorded to diplomatic agents and the members of their families  
forming part of their households under the Vienna Convention.

3. The privileges and immunities referred to in subsections 2(2) and  
(3) do not apply to Canadian citizens or permanent residents of  
Canada in respect of their liability for taxes or duties imposed by  
any law in Canada.

4. This Order does not restrict the capacity of the Government of  
Canada to refuse officials of the Organization entry to Canada or to  
exclude them from Canada, for reasons linked to national security.

COMING INTO FORCE

5. 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.)

Description

The Order grants legal capacities to the Egmont Group of Financial  
Intelligence Units (Organization) as well as privileges and  
immunities to the Organization and its officials. The privileges and  
immunities derive from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations  
(Vienna Convention) and the Convention on Privileges and Immunities  
of the United Nations (UN Convention) as set out in Schedules I and  
III of the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act (Act)  
respectively. These legal capacities and privileges and immunities  
are granted by Order of the Governor in Council following the  
recommendation of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Foreign  
Affairs, pursuant to section 5 of the Act.

Legal Capacities and Privileges and Immunities granted to the  
Organization

The Order will grant the Organization the legal capacities of a body  
corporate under Canadian law. The Organization will also be granted  
privileges and immunities as set out in Articles II and III of the UN  
Convention. As an indication and, except in so far as it has  
expressly waived its immunity, this means that any property and  
assets of the Organization will enjoy immunity from any legal process  
and will be immune from search, requisition, confiscation,  
expropriation and any form of interference, whether by executive,  
administrative, judicial or legislative action. In addition, the  
Organization's premises and archives will be inviolable and official  
communications and correspondence of the Organization will be treated  
with the same consideration as diplomatic communications. The  
Organization's assets, income and other property in Canada will also  
be exempt from all direct taxes and from customs duties, prohibitions  
and restrictions in respect of articles the Organization imports and  
exports for its official use or in respect of its publications  
(certain conditions apply).

Privileges and Immunities granted to Officials of the Organization

Officials of the Organization will receive the privileges and  
immunities set forth in section 18 of Article V of the UN Convention.  
As an indication and, except in so far as they have been expressly  
waived, these privileges and immunities include immunity from legal  
process of every kind in respect of words spoken or written and all  
acts done by them in their official capacity, exemption from  
immigration restrictions for themselves, together with their spouses  
and relatives dependent on them, and exemption, for non-Canadians who  
are not permanent residents of Canada, from taxation on their  
salaries, emoluments and allowances.

In addition to the immunities and privileges specified in section 18,  
the Executive Secretary of the Egmont Group's permanent secretariat,  
together with the members of his or her family forming part of his or  
her household, will be granted privileges and immunities comparable  
to those accorded to diplomatic agents and the members of their  
families forming part of their households under the Vienna Convention.

Taxes and duties legally imposed in Canada

This Order does not exempt a person who is a permanent resident of  
Canada or a Canadian citizen from liability for taxes or duties  
imposed by any law in Canada.

Alternatives

If the Organization is to fulfill its functions, the Organization and  
its officials require privileges and immunities and such privileges  
and immunities may only be granted, under the Act, by the Governor  
General in Council.

Benefits and Costs

This Order will permit Canada to fulfill its international  
commitments as host to the permanent secretariat of the Egmont Group  
of Financial Intelligence Units. The privileges and immunities  
granted to the Organization are necessary to allow it to pursue its  
goals and those accorded to the officials of the Organization to  
allow them to exercise independently their functions with respect to  
the Organization.

Consultation

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Financial  
Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada and the RCMP were  
consulted on and are supportive of this Order.

Compliance and Enforcement

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.

Contact

Keith Morrill
Director
Criminal, Security and Treaty Law Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2
Telephone: 613-995-8508
FAX: 613-944-0870

Footnote a

S.C. 2002, c. 12, ss. 3 and 10

Footnote b

S.C. 1991, c. 41

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada  
Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with hypertext  
language (HTML). Its content is very similar except for the  
footnotes, the symbols and the tables.

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