Privileges and Immunities of the Officials of the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations and Certain other International Organizations

Abstract

In the preceding chapter we have shown that international organizations are normally accorded certain privileges, immunities, and exemptions which are a sine qua non of their successful functioning. In this chapter we shall concern ourselves with the privileges and immunities of the agents through which these organizations act. We shall call these agents international officials. Theraison d’être of these privileges and immunities is the assurance of unimpeded performance of functions by international officials. As compared to diplomatic agents whose privileges and immunities have evolved through centuries and have come to occupy a definite place in the law of nations, the experience with regard to international officials is rather limited. This underlines the new character of the problem with which we are going to deal. Unlike diplomatic agents, international officials are neither accredited to the government of a particular country nor are representatives of one. They are servants of the international organization in true sense of the term and act in its name. Unlike diplomatic agents, they exercise their functions not in the territory of a single but several States including sometimes their own.