Headquarters Agreement of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

The Agreement establishes the Headquarters of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River in Austria and regulates its legal status, privileges and immunities.

The Republic of Austria recognizes the international juridical personality of the Commission, deriving from Article 10 of Annex IV of the Danube River Protection Convention, and its legal capacity within Austria (Article 2).

The Commission shall enjoy immunity from jurisdiction of courts and other appropriate authorities as well as from enforcement, except in the following cases: (a) to the extent that the Executive Secretary shall have expressly waived such immunity in a particular case; (b) in the case of a civil action brought by a third party for damages resulting from an accident caused by a vehicle belonging to, or operated on behalf of, the Secretariat, or in respect of any infringement of regulations governing the keeping, operation and use of motor vehicles; (c) in the case of attachment, pursuant to a decision of an authority or a court, of the salary, emolument or indemnity owed by the Secretariat to an official, unless the Executive Secretary informs the appropriate authorities within 14 days of the date on which it is notified of said decision that that it does not waive its immunity (Article 6).

Officials of the Commission shall enjoy, within and with respect to the Republic of Austria, immunity from jurisdiction in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by them in their official capacity; this immunity shall continue to apply even after the persons concerned have ceased to be officials of the Commission (Article 16). The Executive Secretary of the Commission, provided he is not Austrian national or is not permanently resident of the Republic of Austria, shall be accorded the privileges and immunities, exemptions and facilities as are accorded to heads of diplomatic missions or members of such missions having comparable rank (Article 17).

The Executive Secretary shall waive immunity where he considers that such immunity would impede the normal course of justice and that it can be waived without prejudicing the interests of the Commission (Article 20).