Wellington police accuse partner of Australian diplomat of assault after ‘altercation’

Police today confirmed the man reported to Wellington Central Police Station at 9am and was summoned to appear in Wellington District Court on November 14.

The man faced one charge of assault. A police spokesman said no further comment would be made as the matter is before the courts.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and the High Commission in Wellington have been contacted for comment.

What is diplomatic immunity and how can it be waived?

“Immunity” can be granted to diplomats and their families under international law – the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.

It is a long-standing principle designed to ensure that diplomats and foreign representatives can carry out their duties in freedom, independence and security, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) explains.

Former British High Commissioner Vicki Treadell said Herald Previously this was mainly useful in countries with poor human rights.

Diplomatic immunity means that a person cannot be arrested or detained, prosecuted or subpoenaed as a witness. However, they can receive a fine for a traffic violation.

MFAT documents set out how the New Zealand government expects the sending state – the country the diplomat is representing – to waive the immunity of a foreign representative or accredited family member when a serious crime is alleged and legal action is taken against the make the individual possible.

The definition of a ‘serious crime’ here is a crime punishable by a prison sentence of twelve months or more.

“Serious crimes therefore include crimes against persons such as murder, manslaughter, sexual offenses and common assault; certain driving offences, such as dangerous driving causing injury; and certain property crimes, including theft of more than $500,” according to the MFAT documentation.

An individual who is immune from local jurisdiction cannot waive his own immunity.

Immunity belongs to the sending state, not the individual, and must be waived by the sending state, MFAT says.

In 2020, then Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern said she had spoken to the President of South Korea over disappointment that diplomatic immunity was not lifted during the police investigation facing a South Korean diplomat.

At the end of August, the South Korean diplomat was given a suspended prison sentence after being convicted of sexually assaulting a New Zealand employee at an embassy in Wellington.

In 2018, a landlord was left furious with MFAT, which protected a foreign diplomat who owed $20,000 in rent and damage to the property.

The Tenancy Tribunal had ruled in favor of the Wellington landlord, but MFAT intervened and said the proceedings should never have taken place because the person had diplomatic immunity.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based in Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, where he reported on Covid-19 and crime.