Foreign diplomats owe huge parking fine debt
Published: 17 Aug 12 11:39 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/42678/20120817/
Foreign diplomats’ habits of parking on cycle paths and near bus stops have amassed almost 600 unpaid parking tickets so far this year, with the total amount of unpaid fines for the year reaching over 400,000 kronor ($59,642).
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According to SvD, the ministry receives information from the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) as to how many embassies have unpaid parking tickets.
Up until July 1st, the tally was 579 unpaid tickets with both minor infractions such as failing to pay at the parking metre and flagrant parking offences where the vehicles have been left on cycle paths and at bus stops. The total amount of owed parking fines between January and June this year comes to 439,225 kronor.
According to SvD's investigation, the Russian embassy is responsible for the largest number of unpaid tickets. The second largest culprit is China, according to SvD.
It is up to the foreign ministry to contact the embassies when the ministry sees that they don’t adhere to Swedish law. But the ministry can’t make them pay the fines, as the diplomats all have immunity to Swedish law.
At Swedish embassies and consulates abroad, the policy is that laws of the host country should always be followed. If Swedish diplomats receive a ticket they will pay for the fine themselves, according to the paper.
Politicians in Stockholm’s City Hall think that something has to be done about the unpaid infractions.
“It seems that some embassies are doing this quite regularly. The municipalities need to get increased authority, to be able to clamp the vehicles or tow them away. It upsets me to hear about this,” said city councillor Per Ankersjö to SvD.
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Perhaps the UK habit of clamping should be extended to diplomatic vehicles also, whereby the fee had to be paid prior to removal of said clamp. Or even removal to a pound, from where a hefty fee has to be paid prior to release, no matter what the status of the vehicle.
Clearly the rules NEED to be changed, and the sooner the better for all concerned.
This is but a bagatelle in the U.N.'s colossal culture of corruption.
They would only need to do it a couple of times for the problem to go away
It always comes down to the fact that what sounds reasonable in a certain type of society will be abused in another one.
Just imagine the waves of arrests and parking tickets and storming of embassies that would be issued to Swedish diplomats in Minsk or Quito if the immunity standards were not kept as strict as possible, there is the problem.
Parking violations do not complicate diplomatic relations, but rude behaviour by diplomats can cause problems.
Make the chauffeurs responsible for the parking fines and for recovering the vehicles that have to be towed away because the flagrant parking violations have endangered public safety.
If the 'diplomat' is not important enough to have a chauffeur, he isn't important enough for 'diplomatic immunity' to apply to him personally.
Guests should be polite and not presumptive upon the hosts' hospitality.