Confederation of Corrupt DictatorsBoard

Understanding the dire need for a unified format for passports of Confederation Member States in order to ensure ease of usage, ease of travel, ease of diplomatic relations, and such, the Confederation Standardised Passport Act 2022 AD aims to help the Confederation adopt a standard passport format for ease of usage between government authorities within the Confederation and assist in creating a unified identity among Confederation Member States.

1. The passport format will be uniform. The format will be decided upon by a working party taking into account technical problems and in particular those posed by the possible insertion of a laminated card.

   Should a laminated card be inserted, it should have the dimensions stated in the draft recommendation by Jocospite Civil Aviation Authorities.

2. Regarding the cover of the Passport.

   1. The colour of it shall be blue.

   2. Information on the cover shall include the following information in the following order,

      1. The words ‘Confederation Community’,

      2. Name of the State issuing the passport,

      3. Emblem of the State issuing the passport,

      4. The word ‘Passport’.

      5. In addition, the words ‘Confederation Community’ and the Name of the State should be in a similar typeface.

   3. The language used to print out the information on the cover will be given in the language of the State issuing the passport.

   4. Inside the cover, each State may provide whatever information it chooses, with this optional information being printed in the State’s official language.

3. Regarding the number of pages, the passport shall contain 32 pages. However, a passport containing more pages may be issued to people who travel frequently. The number of pages in the passport will appear at the bottom of the last page. This information will be given in arabic numbers and the official language of the Confederation.

4. Regarding the first page.

   1. it will contain the following items in the order given below.

      1. the words 'Confederation Community',

      2. name of the State issuing the passport,

      3. the Confederation Seal,

      4. the word 'Passport'.

      5. In addition, the words ‘Confederation Community’ and the Name of the State should be in a similar typeface.

   2. This information will be given in the official language of the Confederation.

   3. The serial number of the passport will also be given on this page. The serial number may also be repeated on the other pages.

5. The passport will contain either a laminated page, or a conventional identification page.

   1. The laminated page and the conventional identification page will contain the same information, namely:

      1. surname;

      2. forename(s);

      3. nationality;

      4. date of birth;

      5. sex;

      6. place of birth;

      7. date of issue;

      8. date of expiry;

      9. authority;

      10. signature of holder.

   2. The previously mentioned information shall.

      1. be provided in the official language of the State issuing the passport and in the official language of the Confederation.

   3. A photograph of the holder will appear on the laminated page or on the conventional identification page. Which will comply with the standards of the Jocospite Civil Aviation Authorities

6. Regarding the following page.

   1. Confederation Member States may include on this page information on:

      1. residence;

      2. height;

      3. colour of eyes;

      4. extension of the passport.

   2. The previously mentioned information shall.

      1. be provided in the official language of the State issuing the passport and in the official language of the Confederation.

7. Regarding the following page after the one described in Article I.vi, the page

   1. should be reserved:

      1. for details concerning the spouse of the holder of the passport for those Member States which issue a family passport,

      2. for details concerning children accompanying the holder of the passport; these details should cover the name, first name, date of birth and sex of such children,

      3. for, in relevant cases, the photographs of the spouse and the children.

   2. The previously mentioned information shall.

      1. be provided in the official language of the State issuing the passport and in the official language of the Confederation.

8. Regarding the following page after the one described in Article I.vii, the page

   1. should be reserved for the authorities responsible for issuing the passport.

   2. The Information at the top of this page shall.

      1. be provided in the official language of the State issuing the passport and in the official language of the Confederation.

9. Regarding the pages after the one described in Article 1.8, these pages will be reserved for visas. They will be numbered with Arabic numerals and left blank.

10. Inside the back cover of the passport, each Confederation Member State may print here any information and/or recommendations it chooses in its own official language(s).

1. This uniform passport will be available to all Citizens and Nationals of Confederation Member States as Member State Law dictates.

2. Confederation Member States may issue this passport to other persons.

3. Confederation Member States may in certain special cases issue passports in another form, e.g. diplomatic or service passports

4. If necessary in particular cases, Confederation Member States may, without prejudice to the passport to be drawn up in accordance with this resolution, continue to issue the old type of passport.

1. This Act will come into force seven days after its passing.

2. Confederation Member States who choose to follow the new uniform passport, are encouraged to do so within the next three (3) years to start the process of adoption and to end the process of adoption within the next eight (8) years relative to the start of their process of adoption.

Realising that the needs of a uniting Confederation currently lacks the necessary united standards and regulations to properly allow closer integration, the Confederation Travel Standards and Other Minute Details Act of 2022 AD aims to rectify this and provide certain standards to allow for the Confederation to cooperate closer by taking notes by already present conventions such as the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and other such international agreements.

1. In general, in the event of a Confederation National of a Confederation Member State - to be referred as ‘A’ - entering into the territory of another Confederation Member State - to be referred as ‘B’ - the National of ‘A’ is subject to the laws of ‘B’.

2. In order for Article I.1 to be fair and just, all Confederation Member States must issue public statements regarding the various laws and directives a traveller must be notified upon, which include but are not limited to:

   1. National Security,

   2. National Public Decency,

   3. Insurance,

   4. Indigenous Law,

   5. Social Law,

   6. Telecommunications, &

   7. Littering

3. The information issued in these public statements must be:

   1. in readable format,

   2. presented in the official language of the Confederation and of Jocospor,

   3. presented in a format easily transferable between Confederation Member States’ Governments.

4. Confederation Member States that fall into the B category as according to Article I.i, must endeavour to remind the entering citizen from A regarding the relevant laws pursuant to their reason for entry.

5. Confederation Member States that fall into the A category as according to Article I.i, must endeavour to remind the entering citizen from A to enter into B regarding the relevant laws pursuant to their entry.

6. Confederation Member States may also regulate entry into their nations utilising ‘visas’ or any other preferred method

1. In the event of a citizen of A - as according to Article I.i - stays in country B - as according to Article I.i, the law that applies to the citizen of A is of the country of B.

2. In the event of a citizen of A violating a law in country of B, prosecution of citizen of A is pursuant to country of B.

3. In the event of a citizen of A violating a law in country B, the government of the country of B must inform the government of country of A regarding the violation and subsequent arrest in order to ensure transparency.

   1. Country A does not have the right to demand Country B to release the arrested citizen, however they are allowed to provide assistance in getting legal and financial assistance throughout the legal process.

4. In the event of a citizen of A staying in country B as according to Article II.ii, citizen of A is to be given rights as expected of a Confederation Citizen within a fellow Confederation Member State.

5. Country B retains the right to demand the citizen of A to leave the nation at any time, in a reasonable timeframe.

6. Citizens of country A retains the right to access to Food, Electricity, and Judicial Representation regardless of Country B's laws regarding the matter during their temporary state in country B.

1. The issue of emigration shall be addressed according to each Confederation Member State.

2. In the event that emigration is allowed, Confederation Member States should endeavour to provide the necessary information for emigration for foreign nationals.

   1. Such information should be provided in:

      1. a readable and understandable format,

      2. presented in the official language of the Confederation and of Jocospor,

      3. presented in a format easily transferable between Confederation Member States’ Governments.

3. The necessary information provided should include:

   1. Laws regarding property,

   2. Laws regarding work,

   3. Laws regarding personal freedoms,

   4. Laws regarding political freedoms,

   5. And any other law that provides information for a citizen to live out a proper life.

4. As Article II.i, any foreign national that stays in a Confederation Member State are subject to that Confederation Member State’s Laws.

1. This Act hereby reasserts the Confederation Law of the Sea Act 2022 AD’s protocols regarding entry into a Confederation Member State’s waters.

2. This Act hereby reasserts the International Civil Aviation Act 2022’s protocols regarding entry into a Confederation Member State’s airspace.

3. In order to ensure transparency and ease of information access, as pursuant to the International Civil Aviation Act 2022 Article V.v, Confederation Member States’ Civil Aviation Authorities are compelled to share their databases of registered civilian aircraft to other Confederation Member States.

4. In order to ensure transparency and ease of information access, Confederation Member States’ Civil Naval Authorities are compelled to share their databases of registered civilian use ships to other Confederation Member States.

   1. In the event that a Confederation Member State does not currently hold a database of such ships, they are compelled to create a database of such.

5. Each Confederation Member State undertakes to provide such measures of assistance to ships in distress in its territory or Exclusive Economic Zone as it may find practicable, and to permit, subject to control by its own authorities, the owners of the shipor authorities of the Confederation Member State in which the ship is registered to provide such measures of assistance as may be necessitated by the circumstances. Each contracting Confederation Member State, when undertaking search for missing ship, will collaborate in coordinated measures which may be recommended from time to time pursuant to this Act.

6. In the event of an accident to a ship of a Confederation Member State occurring in the territory of another Confederation Member State, and involving death or serious injury, or indicating serious technical defect in the aircraft or naval navigation facilities, the Confederation Member State in which the accident occurs will institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident, in accordance, so far as its laws permit, with the procedure which may be recommended by the proper authorities. The Confederation Member State in which the ship is registered shall be given the opportunity to appoint observers to be present at the inquiry and the Confederation Member State holding the inquiry shall communicate the report and findings in the matter to that Confederation Member State and the Confederation Government .

   1. If a Confederation Member State recognises a better authority to launch an inquiry, they shall cede authority to this authority who shall carry out the responsibility of carrying out the inquiry.

7. Each contracting Confederation Member State undertakes, so far as it may find practicable, to:

   1. Provide, in its territory,ports, radio services, meteorological services and other naval navigation facilities to facilitate international naval navigation, in accordance with the standards and practises recommended or established from time to time, pursuant to this Act;

   2. Adopt and put into operation the appropriate standard systems of communications procedure, codes, markings, signals, lighting, facilities, and other operational practises and rules which may be recommended or established from time to time, pursuant to this Act;

   3. Collaborate in international measures to secure the publication of nacal maps and charts in accordance with standards which may be recommended or established from time to time, pursuant to this Act.

1. The establishment of consular relations between States takes place via mutual consent.

2. The consent given to the establishment of diplomatic relations between two States implies, unless otherwise stated, consent to the establishment of consular relations.

3. The severance of diplomatic relations does not directly lead to the severance of consular relations.

4. A consular post may be established in the territory of the receiving Confederation Member State only with that Confederation Member State's consent.

5. The seat of the consular post, its classification and the consular district shall be established by the sending State and shall be subject to the approval of the receiving Confederation Member State.

6. Subsequent changes in the seat of the consular post, its classification or the consular district may be made by the sending Confederation Member State only with the consent of the receiving Confederation Member State.

7. The consent of the receiving Confederation Member State shall also be required if a consulate- general or a consulate desires to open a vice-consulate or a consular agency in a locality other than that in which it is itself established.

8. The prior express consent of the receiving Confederation Member State shall also be required for the opening of an office forming part of an existing consular post elsewhere than at the seat thereof.

9. In the event of the severance of consular relations between two Confederation Member States:

   1. the receiving Confederation Member State shall, even in case of armed conflict, respect and protect the consular premises, together with the property of the consular post and the consular archives;

   2. the sending Confederation Member State may entrust the custody of the consular premises, together with the property contained therein and the consular archives, to a third Confederation Member State acceptable to the receiving Confederation Member State;

   3. the sending Confederation Member State may entrust the protection of its interests and those of its nationals to a third Confederation Member State acceptable to the receiving Confederation Member State.

10. In the event of the temporary or permanent closure of a consular post, the provisions of Article V.ix.a shall apply. In addition,

    1. if the sending State, although not represented in the receiving Confederation Member State by a diplomatic mission, has another consular post in the territory of that Confederation Member State, that consular post may be entrusted with the custody of the premises of the consular post which has been closed, together with the property contained therein and the consular archives, and, with the consent of the receiving Confederation Member State, with the exercise of consular functions in the district of that consular post; or

    2. if the sending Confederation Member State has no diplomatic mission and no other consular post in the receiving State, the provisions of Article V.IX.b and Article V.IX.c shall apply.

1. Consular functions between Confederation Member States shall include:

   1. protecting in the receiving Confederation Member State the interests of the sending Confederation Member State and of its nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, within the limits permitted by international and Confederation law;

   2. furthering the development of commercial, economic, cultural and scientific relations between the sending Confederation Member State and the receiving Confederation Member State and otherwise promoting friendly relations between them in accordance with the provisions of the Act;

   3. ascertaining by all lawful means conditions and developments in the commercial, economic, cultural and scientific life of the receiving Confederation Member State, reporting thereon to the Government of the sending Confederation Member State and giving information to persons interested;

   4. issuing passports and travel documents to nationals of the sending Confederation Member State, and visas or appropriate documents to persons wishing to travel to the sending Confederation Member State ;

   5. helping and assisting nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, of the sending Confederation Member State ;

   6. acting as notary and civil registrar and in capacities of a similar kind, and performing certain functions of an administrative nature, provided that there is nothing contrary thereto in the laws and regulations of the receiving Confederation Member State ;

   7. safeguarding the interests of nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, of the sending Confederation Member State in cases of succession mortis causa in the territory of the receiving Confederation Member State, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the receiving State ;

   8. safeguarding, within the limits imposed by the laws and regulations of the receiving Confederation Member State, the interests of minors and other persons lacking full capacity who are nationals of the sending Confederation Member State, particularly where any guardianship or trusteeship is required with respect to such persons ;

   9. subject to the practices and procedures obtaining in the receiving Confederation Member State, representing or arranging appropriate representation for nationals of the sending Confederation Member State before the tribunals and other authorities of the receiving Confederation Member State, for the purpose of obtaining, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the receiving State, provisional measures for the preservation of the rights and interests of these nationals, where, because of absence or any other reason, such nationals are unable at the proper time to assume the defence of their rights and interests;

   10. transmitting judicial and extrajudicial documents or executing letters rogatory or commissions to take evidence for the courts of the sending Confederation Member State in accordance with international and/or Confederation agreements in force or, in the absence of such international agreements, in any other manner compatible with the laws and regulations of the receiving Confederation Member State ;

   11. exercising rights of supervision and inspection provided for in the laws and regulations of the sending State in respect of vessels having the nationality of the sending Confederation Member State, and of aircraft registered in that sending Confederation Member State, and in respect of their crews ;

   12. extending assistance to vessels and aircraft mentioned in sub-paragraph (k) of this Article and to their crews, taking statements regarding the voyage of a vessel, examining and stamping the ship's papers, and, without prejudice to the powers of the authorities of the receiving Confederation Member State, conducting investigations into any incidents which occurred during the voyage, and settling disputes of any kind between the master, the officers and the seamen in so far as this may be authorised by the laws and regulations of the sending Confederation Member State;

   13. performing any other functions entrusted to a consular post by the sending Confederation Member State which are not prohibited by the laws and regulations of the receiving State or to which no objection is taken by the receiving Confederation Member State or which are referred to in the international and/or Confederation agreements in force between the sending Confederation Member State and the receiving Confederation Member State.

2. A consular officer may, in special circumstances, with the consent of the receiving Confederation Member State, exercise his functions outside his consular district.

3. The sending Confederation Member State may, after notifying the States concerned, entrust a consular post established in a particular Confederation Member State with the exercise of consular functions in another Confederation Member State, unless there is express objection by one of the States concerned.
   

1. The head of a consular post shall be provided by the sending Confederation Member State with a document, in the form of a commission or similar instrument, made out for each appointment, certifying his/her capacity and showing, as a general rule, his/her full name, his/her capacity and task, the consular district and the seat of the consular post.

2. The sending Confederation Member State shall transmit the commission or similar instrument through the diplomatic or other appropriate channel to the Government of the Confederation Member State in whose territory the head of a consular post is to exercise his functions.

3. If the receiving Confederation Member State agrees, the sending Confederation Member State may, instead of a commission or similar instrument, send to the receiving State a notification containing the particulars required by Article VII.i.

4. As soon as the head of a consular post is admitted even provisionally to the exercise of his functions, the receiving Confederation Member State shall immediately notify the competent authorities of the consular district. It shall also ensure that the necessary measures are taken to enable the head of a consular post to carry out the duties of his office and to have the benefit of the provisions of the present Act.

5. The details of the staff present within the consular post is up to the discretion and choice of the sending Confederation Member State. The receiving Confederation Member State may request to the sending Confederation Member State a full detail of the staff present in the consular post.

   1. In the absence of an express agreement as to the size of the consular staff, the receiving Confederation Member State may require that the size of the staff be kept within limits considered by it to be reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the consular district and to the needs of the particular post.

6. In a State where the sending Confederation Member State has no diplomatic mission and is not represented by a diplomatic mission of a third Confederation Member State, a consular officer may, with the consent of the receiving State, and without affecting his consular status, be authorised to perform diplomatic acts. The performance of such acts by a consular officer shall not confer upon him any right to claim diplomatic privileges and immunities.

7. A consular officer may, after notification addressed to the receiving Confederation Member State, act as representative of the sending Confederation Member State to any intergovernmental organisation. When so acting, he shall be entitled to enjoy any privileges and immunities accorded to such a representative by customary international law or by international agreements or by Confederation Law; however, in respect of the performance by him of any consular function, he shall not be entitled to any greater immunity from jurisdiction than that to which a consular officer is entitled under the present Act.

8. Regarding the nationality of consular officers.

   1. Consular officers should, in principle, have the nationality of the sending Confederation Member State.

   2. Consular officers may not be appointed from among persons having the nationality of the receiving Confederation Member State except with the express consent of that Confederation Member State which may be withdrawn at any time.

   3. The receiving Confederation Member State may reserve the same right with regard to nationals of a third State who are not also nationals of the sending Confederation Member State.

9. The receiving Confederation Member State may at any time notify the sending Confederation Member State that a consular officer is persona non grata or that any other member of the consular staff is not acceptable. In that event, the sending Confederation Member State shall, as the case may be, either recall the person concerned or terminate his functions with the consular post.

   1. If the sending Confederation Member State refuses or fails within a reasonable time to carry out its obligations under Article VII.ix, the receiving Confederation Member State may, as the case may be, cease to consider him as a member of the consular staff.

   2. A person appointed as a member of a consular post may be declared unacceptable before arriving in the territory of the receiving Confederation Member State or, if already in the receiving Confederation Member State, before entering on his duties with the consular post. In any such case, the sending Confederation Member State State shall withdraw his appointment.

   3. In the previous two cases, the receiving Confederation Member State is not obliged to give to the sending Confederation Member State reasons for its decision.

10. The functions of a member of a consular post shall come to an end when:

    1. on notification by the sending Confederation Member State to the receiving Confederation Member State that his functions have come to an end;

    2. on notification by the receiving Confederation Member State to the sending Confederation Member State that the receiving Confederation Member State has ceased to consider him as a member of the consular staff.

11. The receiving Confederation Member State shall, even in case of armed conflict, grant to members of the consular post and members of the private staff, other than nationals of the receiving Confederation Member State, and to members of their families forming part of their house holds irrespective of nationality, the necessary time and facilities to enable them to prepare their departure and to leave at the earliest possible moment after the termination of the functions of the members concerned. In particular, it shall, in case of need, place at their disposal the necessary means of transport for themselves and their property other than property acquired in the receiving State the export of which is prohibited at the time of departure.

12. Regarding Freedom of Communication.

    1. The receiving Confederation Member State shall permit and protect freedom of communication on the part of the consular post for all official purposes. In communicating with the Government, the diplomatic missions and other consular posts, wherever situated, of the sending State, the consular post may employ all appropriate means, including diplomatic or consular couriers, diplomatic or consular bags and messages in code or cipher. However, the consular post may install and use a wireless transmitter only with the consent of the receiving Confederation Member State.

    2. The official correspondence of the consular post shall be inviolable. Official correspondence means all correspondence relating to the consular post and its functions.

    3. The consular bag shall be neither open nor detained. Nevertheless, if the competent authorities of the receiving Confederation Member State have serious reason to believe that the bag contains something other than the correspondence, documents or articles referred to in Article VIII.viii.d, they may request that the bag be opened in their presence by an authorised representative of the sending Confederation Member State. If this request is refused by the authorities of the sending Confederation Member State, the bag shall be returned to its place of origin.

    4. The packages constituting the consular bag shall bear visible external marks of their character and may contain only official correspondence and documents, or articles intended exclusively for official use, most importantly originating from the sending Confederation Member State.

    5. The consular courier shall be provided with an official document indicating his status and the number of packages constituting the consular bag. Except with the consent of the receiving Confederation Member State he shall be neither a national of the receiving Confederation Member State, nor, unless he is a national of the sending Confederation Member State, a permanent resident of the receiving Confederation Member State. In the performance of his functions he shall be protected by the receiving Confederation Member State. He shall enjoy personal inviolability and shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention.

13. With a view to facilitating the exercise of consular functions relating to nationals of the sending Confederation Member State within the receiving Confederation Member State:

    1. consular officers shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending Confederation Member State and to have access to them. Citizens of the sending Confederation Member State shall have the same freedom with respect to communication with and access to consular officers of the sending Confederation Member State;

    2. If he so requests, the competent authorities of the receiving Confederation Member State shall, without delay, inform the consular post of the sending Confederation Member State if, within its consular district, a national of that State is arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial or is detained in any other manner. Any communication addressed to the consular post by the person arrested, in prison, custody or detention shall be forwarded by the said authorities without delay. The said authorities shall inform the person concerned without delay of his rights as according to Article VII.XIII.c,

    3. Consular officers shall have the right to visit a national of the sending Confederation Member State who is in prison, custody or detention, to converse and correspond with him and to arrange for his legal representation. They shall also have the right to visit any national of the sending Confederation Member State who is in prison, custody or detention in their district in pursuance of a judgement. Nevertheless, consular officers shall refrain from taking action on behalf of a national who is in prison, custody or detention if he expressly opposes such action.

    4. The rights referred to in Article VII.XIII.a shall be exercised in conformity with the laws and regulations of the receiving Confederation Member State, subject to the provision, however, that the said laws and regulations must enable full effect to be given to the purposes for which the rights accorded under Article VII.XIII are intended.

14. If the relevant information is available to the competent authorities of the receiving Confederation Member State, such authorities shall have the duty:

    1. in the case of the death of a national of the sending Confederation Member State, to inform without delay the consular post in whose district the death occurred;

    2. to inform the competent consular post without delay of any case where the appointment of a guardian or trustee appears to be in the interests of a minor or other person lacking full capacity who is a national of the sending Confederation Member State. The giving of this information shall, however, be without prejudice to the operation of the laws and regulations of the receiving Confederation Member State concerning such appointments;

    3. if a vessel, having the nationality of the sending Confederation Member State, is wrecked or runs aground in the territorial sea or internal waters of the receiving Confederation Member State, or if an aircraft registered in the sending Confederation Member State suffers an accident on the territory of the receiving Confederation Member SState, to inform without delay the consular post nearest to the scene of the occurrence.

15. In the exercise of their functions, consular officers may address:

    1. the competent local authorities of their consular district;

    2. the competent central authorities of the receiving Confederation Member State if and to the extent that this is allowed by the laws, regulations and usages of the receiving State or by the relevant international agreements.

16. The receiving Confederation Member State shall treat consular officers with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on their person, freedom or dignity.

17. Regarding the Personal Inviolability of consular officers

    1. Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority.

    2. Except in the case specified in Article VII.XVII.a, consular officers shall not be committed to prison or be liable to any other form of restriction on their personal freedom save in execution of a judicial decision of final effect.

    3. If criminal proceedings are instituted against a consular officer, he must appear before the competent authorities. Nevertheless, the proceedings shall be conducted with the respect due to him by reason of his official position and, except in the case specified in Article VII.XVII.a, in a manner which will hamper the exercise of consular functions as little as possible. When, in the circumstances mentioned in Article VII.XVII.a, it has become necessary to detain a consular officer, the proceedings against him shall be instituted with the minimum of delay.

18. In the event of the arrest or detention, pending trial, of a member of the consular staff, or of criminal proceedings being instituted against him, the receiving Confederation Member State shall promptly notify the head of the consular post. Should the latter be himself the object of any such measure, the receiving Confederation Member State shall notify the sending Confederation Member State through the diplomatic channel.

19. Consular officers and consular employees shall not be amenable to the jurisdiction of the judicial or administrative authorities of the receiving State in respect of acts performed in the exercise of consular functions.

    1. The provisions shall not, however, apply in respect of a civil action either:

       1. arising out of a contract concluded by a consular officer or a consular employee in which he did not contract expressly or impliedly as an agent of the sending State; or

       2. by a third party for damage arising from an accident in the receiving State caused by a vehicle, vessel or aircraft.

20. Members of a consular post may be called upon to attend as witnesses in the course of judicial or administrative proceedings. A consular employee or a member of the service staff shall not, except in the cases mentioned in subclause 2 of this clause, decline to give evidence. If a consular officer should decline to do so, no coercive measure or penalty may be applied to him.

    1. The authority requiring the evidence of a consular officer shall avoid interference with the performance of his functions. It may, when possible, take such evidence at his residence or at the consular post or accept a statement from him in writing.

    2. Members of a consular post are under no obligation to give evidence concerning matters connected with the exercise of their functions or to produce official correspondence and documents relating thereto. They are also entitled to decline to give evidence as expert witnesses with regard to the law of the sending Confederation Member State.

21. The Confederation Member State may at any time waive the immunities and privileges provided within this act.

    1. The waiver of immunity from jurisdiction for the purposes of civil or administrative proceedings shall not be deemed to imply the waiver of immunity from the measures of execution resulting from the judicial decision; in respect of such measures, a separate waiver shall be necessary.

22. Regarding Specific Exemptions for Consular Officers, Consular Officers are exempted from:

    1. registration of aliens and residence permits.

       1. Consular officers and consular employees and members of their families forming part of their households shall be exempt from all obligations under the laws and regulations of the receiving confederation Member State in regard to the registration of aliens and residence permits.

       2. The provisions of such shall not, however, apply to any consular employee who is not a permanent employee of the sending Confederation Member State or who carries on any private gainful occupation in the receiving Confederation Member State or to any member of the family of any such employee.

    2. Work permits.

       1. Members of the consular post shall, with respect to services rendered for the sending Confederation Member State, be exempt from any obligations in regard to work permits imposed by the laws and regulations of the receiving Confederation Member State concerning the employment of foreign labour.

       2. Members of the private staff of consular officers and of consular employees shall, if they do not carry on any other gainful occupation in the receiving Confederation Member State, be exempt from the obligations referred to in Article VIII.XXII.b.i.

    3. Taxation.

       1. Consular officers and consular employees and members of their families forming part of their households shall be exempt from all dues and taxes, personal or real, national, regional or municipal, except :

          1. indirect taxes of a kind which are normally incorporated in the price of goods or services;

          2. dues or taxes on private immovable property situated in the territory of the receiving Confederation Member State, subject to the provisions of Article VIII.V;

          3. estate, succession or inheritance duties, and duties on transfers, levied by the receiving Confederation Member State;

          4. dues and taxes on private income, including capital gains, having its source in the receiving State and capital taxes relating to investments made in commercial or financial undertakings in the receiving Confederation Member State;

          5. charges levied for specific services rendered;

          6. registration, court or record fees, mortgage dues and stamp duties, subject to the provisions of Article VII.V.

       2. Members of the service staff shall be exempt from dues and taxes on the wages which they receive for their services.

       3. Members of the consular post who employ persons whose wages or salaries are not exempt from income tax in the receiving Confederation Member State shall observe the obligations which the laws and regulations of that State impose upon employers concerning the levying of income tax.

    4. Custom duties and Inspection

       1. The receiving Confederation Member State shall, in accordance with such laws and regulations as it may adopt, permit entry of and grant exemption from all customs duties, taxes, and related charges other than charges for storage, cartage and similar services, on :

          1. articles for the official use of the consular post;

          2. articles for the personal use of a consular officer or members of his family forming part of his household, including articles intended for his establishment. The articles intended for consumption shall not exceed the quantities necessary for direct utilization by the persons concerned.

       2. Consular employees shall enjoy the privileges and exemptions specified in Article VII.XXII.D.1 in respect of articles imported at the time of first installation.

       3. Personal baggage accompanying consular officers and members of their families forming part of their households shall be exempt from inspection. It may be inspected only if there is serious reason to believe that it contains articles other than those referred to in Article VII.XXII.D.1.b , or articles the import or export of which is prohibited by the laws and regulations of the receiving Confederation Member State or which are subject to its quarantine laws and regulations. Such inspection shall be carried out in the presence of the consular officer or member of his family concerned.

    5. Personal services and contributions

       1. The receiving Confederation Member State shall exempt members of the consular post and members of their families forming part of their households from all personal services, from all public service of any kind whatsoever, and from military obligations such as those connected with requisitioning, military contributions and billeting.

23. Every member of the consular post shall enjoy the privileges and immunities provided in the present Act from the moment he enters the territory of the receiving State on proceeding to take up his post or, if already in its territory, from the moment when he enters on his duties with the consular post.

    1. Members of the family of a member of the consular post forming part of his household and members of his private staff shall receive the privileges and immunities provided in the present Act from the date from which he enjoys privileges and immunities in accordance with Article VII.XXIII or from the date of their entry into the territory of the receiving State or from the date of their becoming a member of such family or private staff, whichever is the latest.

    2. When the functions of a member of the consular post have come to an end, his privileges and immunities and those of a member of his family forming part of his household or a member of his private staff shall normally cease at the moment when the person concerned leaves the receiving Confederation Member State or on the expiry of a reasonable period in which to do so, whichever is the sooner, but shall subsist until that time, even in case of armed conflict. In the case of the persons referred to in Article VII.XXIII.a of this article, their privileges and immunities shall come to an end when they cease to belong to the household or to be in the service of a member of the consular post provided, however, that if such persons intend leaving the receiving Confederation Member State within a reasonable period thereafter, their privileges and immunities shall subsist until the time of their departure.

    3. However, with respect to acts performed by a consular officer or a consular employee in the exercise of his functions, immunity from jurisdiction shall continue to subsist without limitation of time.

    4. In the event of the death of a member of the consular post, the members of his family forming part of his household shall continue to enjoy the privileges and immunities accorded to them until they leave the receiving Confederation Member State or until the expiry of a reasonable period enabling them to do so, whichever is the sooner.

24. Members of the consular post shall comply with any requirements imposed by the laws and regulations of the receiving Confederation Member State, in respect of insurance against third party risks arising from the use of any vehicle, vessel or aircraft.

25. Career consular officers shall not carry on for personal profit any professional or commercial activity in the receiving Confederation Member State. Privileges and immunities provided shall not be accorded:

    1. to consular employees or to members of the service staff who carry on any private gainful occupation in the receiving Confederation Member State;

    2. to members of the family of a person referred to personnel in Article VII.XXV.a or to members of his private staff;

    3. to members of the family of a member of a consular post who themselves carry on any private gainful occupation in the receiving Confederation Member State.

1. The receiving Confederation Member State shall accord full facilities for the performance of the functions of the consular post.

2. Regarding the use of national flags and the coat of arms,

   1. The sending Confederation Member State shall have the right to the use of its national flag and coat-of-arms in the receiving State in accordance with the provisions of Article VIII.ii.

   2. The national flag of the sending Confederation Member State may be flown and its coat-of-arms displayed on the building occupied by the consular post and at the entrance door thereof, on the residence of the head of the consular post and on his means of transport when used on official business.

   3. In the exercise of the right accorded by this Article VIII.ii regard shall be had to the laws, regulations and usages of the receiving Confederation Member State.

3. Regarding Accommodation,

   1. The receiving Confederation Member State shall either facilitate the acquisition on its territory, in accordance with its laws and regulations, by the sending State of premises necessary for its consular post or assist the latter in obtaining accommodation in some other way.

   2. It shall also, where necessary, assist the consular post in obtaining suitable accommodation for its members.

4. Regarding specific provisions towards the Consular Premises.

   1. Consular premises shall be inviolable to the extent provided in Article VIII.iv.

   2. The authorities of the receiving Confederation Member State shall not enter that part of the consular premises which is used exclusively for the purpose of the work of the consular post except with the consent of the head of the consular post or of his designee or of the head of the diplomatic mission of the sending State. The consent of the head of the consular post may, however, be assumed in case of fire or other disaster requiring prompt protective action.

   3. Subject to the provisions of Article VIII.iv.b, the receiving Confederation Member State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the consular premises against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the consular post or impairment of its dignity.

   4. The consular premises, their furnishings, the property of the consular post and its means of transport shall be immune from any form of requisition for purposes of national defence or public utility. If expropriation is necessary for such purposes, all possible steps shall be taken to avoid impeding the performance of consular functions, and prompt, adequate and effective compensation shall be paid to the sending Confederation Member State.

5. Consular premises and the residence of the career head of consular post of which the sending State or any person acting on its behalf is the owner or lessee shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal dues and taxes whatsoever, other than such as represent payment for specific services rendered. The exemption from taxation referred to shall not apply to such dues and taxes if, under the law of the receiving Confederation Member State, they are payable by the person who contracted with the sending Confederation Member State or with the person acting on its behalf.

6. The consular archives and documents shall be inviolable at all times and wherever they may be.

7. Subject to its laws and regulations concerning zones entry into which is prohibited or regulated for reasons of national security, the receiving Confederation Member State shall ensure freedom of movement and travel in its territory to all members of the consular post.

8. The consular post may levy in the territory of the receiving Confederation Member State the fees and charges provided by the laws and regulations of the sending Confederation Member State for consular acts.

   1. The sums collected in the form of the fees and charges referred to, and the receipts for such fees and charges, shall be exempt from all dues and taxes in the receiving Confederation Member State.

1. If a consular officer passes through or is in the territory of a third Confederation Member State, which has granted him a visa if a visa was necessary, while proceeding to take up or return to his post or when returning to the sending Confederation Member State, the third Confederation Member State shall accord to him all immunities provided for by the other articles of the present Act as may be required to ensure his transit or return. The same shall apply in the case of any member of his family forming part of his household enjoying such privileges and immunities who are accompanying the consular officer or travelling separately to join him or to return to the sending Confederation Member State.

2. In circumstances similar to those specified in Article IX.i, third Confederation Member States shall not hinder the transit through their territory of other members of the consular post or of members of their families forming part of their households.

3. Third Confederation Member States shall accord to official correspondence and to other official communications in transit, including messages in code or cipher, the same freedom and protection as the receiving State is bound to accord under the present Convention. They shall accord to consular couriers who have been granted a visa, if a visa was necessary, and to consular bags in transit, the same inviolability and protection as the receiving State is bound to accord under the present Act.

4. The obligations of third States under Article IX.i, Article IX.ii, and Article IX.iii shall also apply to the persons mentioned respectively in previous Articles, and to official communications and to consular bags, whose presence in the territory of the third Confederation Member State is due to force majeure.

5. Third Confederation Member States may reject the responsibility of such a duty, but in doing so must provide an acceptable alternative route without delay.

1. Each Confederation Member State is free to decide whether it will establish or admit consular agencies conducted by consular agents not designated as heads of consular post by the sending Confederation Member State.

   1. The conditions under which the consular agencies referred to in may carry on their activities and the privileges and immunities which may be enjoyed by the consular agents in charge of them shall be determined by agreement between the sending Confederation Member State and the receiving Confederation Member State.

2. The provisions of the present Act apply also, so far as the context permits, to the exercise of consular functions by a diplomatic mission.

   1. The names of members of a diplomatic mission assigned to the consular section or otherwise charged with the exercise of the consular functions of the mission shall be notified to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the receiving Confederation Member State or to the authority designated by that Ministry.

   2. In the exercise of consular functions a diplomatic mission may address:

      1. the local authorities of the consular district;

      2. the central authorities of the receiving Confederation Member State if this is allowed by the laws, regulations and usages of the receiving Confederation Member State or by relevant international agreements.

3. In the application of the provisions of the present Act the receiving Confederation Member State shall not discriminate as between Confederation Member States. However, discrimination shall not be regarded as taking place:

   1. where the receiving Confederation Member State applies any of the provisions of the present Convention restrictively because of a restrictive application of that provision to its consular posts in the sending Confederation Member State;

   2. where by custom or agreement Confederation Member States extend to each other more favourable treatment than is required by the provisions of the present Act.

1. Amendments or repeals to this Act require a two thirds majority in a vote - excluding non voting Senators.