State privileges and immunities

Kenya

Kenya - Constitution 2010 EN

CHAPTER NINE—THE EXECUTIVE

Part 2—the President and Deputy President

143. Removal of President on grounds of incapacity.

(4) The immunity of the President under this Article shall not extend to a crime for which the President may be prosecuted under any treaty to which Kenya is party and which prohibits such immunity.

Kenya - International Crimes Act 2008 EN

PART III—GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE

27. (1) The existence of any immunity or special procedural rule attaching to the official capacity of any person shall not constitute a ground for—
(a) refusing or postponing the execution of a request
for surrender or other assistance by the ICC;
(b) holding that a person is ineligible for surrender, transfer, or removal to the ICC or another State under this Act; or
(c) holding that a person is not obliged to provide the assistance sought in a request by the ICC.

(2) Subsection (1) shall have effect subject to sections 62 and 115, but notwithstanding any other enactment or rule of law.

PART V—DOMESTIC PROCEDURES FOR OTHER TYPES OF CO-OPERATION

Restrictions on Provision of Assistance

110. (1) The Attorney-General may postpone the execution of a request for assistance under this Part if, and only if—

(e) a request of the kind referred to in section 115 (2) (c) is made to the ICC.

PART V—DOMESTIC PROCEDURES FOR OTHER TYPES OF CO-OPERATION

Restrictions on Provision of Assistance

115. (1) Ifa request by the ICC for assistance to which this Part applies concerns persons who, or information or property that, are subject to the control of another State or an international organisation under an international agreement, the Attorney-General shall inform the ICC to enable it to direct its request to the other State or international organisation.
(2) Where—
(a) the ICC makes a request for assistance;
(b) the ICC has not previously made a final determination on whether or not paragraph 1 of article 98 of the Rome Statute applies to that request; and
(c) a request is made to the ICC to determine whether or not paragraph 1 of article 98 applies to the request for surrender,
the Minister may postpone the request for assistance until the ICC advises whether or not it wishes to proceed with the request for assistance.
(4) (3) If the ICC advises that it does not intend to proceed with the request, the request for assistance shall be refused.
(5) (4) If the ICC advises that it intends to proceed with the request for assistance, and there is no other ground for refusing or postponing the request, the request shall continue to be dealt with under this Part.

Kenya - Privileges and Immunities Act 1970 (2019) EN

PART IV – INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS, ETC.

9. Privileges, etc., of certain international organizations and persons connected therewith
(1) This section shall apply to an organization which the Minister may, by order, declare to be an organization of which Kenya, or the Government, and one or more foreign sovereign powers, or the government or governments thereof, are members.
(2) The Minister may, by order—
(a) provide that an organization to which this section applies (hereinafter referred to as the organization) shall, to such extent as may be specified in the order, have the immunities and privileges set out in Part I of the Fourth Schedule to this Act, and shall also have the legal capacities of a body corporate;
(b) confer upon—
(i) any persons who are representatives (whether of governments or not) on any organ of the organization or are members of any committee of the organization or of an organ thereof;
(ii) such number of officers of the organization as may be specified in the order, being the holders of such high offices in the organization as may be so specified; and
such persons employed on missions on behalf of the organization as may be so specified,
to such extent as may be specified in the order, the immunities and privileges set out in Part II of the said Fourth Schedule;
(c) confer upon such other classes of officers and servants of the organization as may be specified in the order, to such extent as may be so specified, the immunities and privileges set out in Part III of the
Fourth Schedule, and Part IV of the said Fourth Schedule shall have effect for the purpose of extending to the staffs of such representatives and members as are mentioned in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of this subsection, and to the families of officers of the organization, any immunities and privileges conferred on the representatives, members or officers under that paragraph, except in so far as the operation of Part IV is excluded by the order conferring the immunities and privileges.
(3) An order under subsection (2) of this section shall be so framed as to securethat there are not conferred upon any person immunities or privileges greater in extent than those which, at the time of the making of the order, are required to be conferred on that person in order to give effect to any international agreement in that behalf and that no immunity or privilege is conferred upon any person as the representative of the Government of Kenya or as a member of the staff of such representative.
(4) Where immunities and privileges are conferred upon persons by an orderunder subsection (2) of this section, the Minister, by notice in the Gazette—
(a) shall specify the persons entitled to immunities and privileges conferred under paragraph (b) of that subsection; and
(b) may specify the persons entitled to immunities and privileges conferred under paragraph (c) of that subsection.

FIRST SCHEDULE
ARTICLES OF VIENNA CONVENTION ON DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS HAVING THE FORCE OF LAW IN KENYA

ARTICLE 29
The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.

ARTICLE 30
1. The private residence of a diplomatic agent shall enjoy the same inviolabilityand protection as the premises of the mission.
2. His papers, correspondence and, except as provided in paragraph 3 of Article31, his property, shall likewise enjoy inviolability.

ARTICLE 31
A diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of thereceiving State. He shall also enjoy immunity from its civil and administrative jurisdiction, except in the case of—
(a) a real action relating to private immovable property situated in the territory of the receiving State, unless he holds it on behalf of the sending State for the purposes of the mission;
(b) an action relating to succession in which the diplomatic agent is involved as executor, administrator, heir or legatee as a private person and not on behalf of the sending State;
(c) an action relating to any professional or commercial activity exercised by the diplomatic agent in the receiving State outside his official functions.

Rome Statute

Article 27 Irrelevance of official capacity

2. Immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person.

Article 98 Cooperation with respect to waiver of immunity and consent to surrender

1. The Court may not proceed with a request for surrender or assistance which would require the requested State to act inconsistently with its obligations under international law with respect to the State or diplomatic immunity of a person or property of a third State, unless the Court can first obtain the cooperation of that third State for the waiver of the immunity.

2. The Court may not proceed with a request for surrender which would require the requested State to act inconsistently with its obligations under international agreements pursuant to which the consent of a sending State is required to surrender a person of that State to the Court, unless the Court can first obtain the cooperation of the sending State for the giving of consent for the surrender.

APIC

ARTICLE 27 Social Security

From the date on which the Court establishes a social security scheme, the persons referred to in articles 15, 16 and 17 shall, with respect to services rendered for the Court, be exempt from all compulsory contributions to national social security schemes.