Unpaid traffic fines by foreign diplomats in Switzerland reach millions: media

GENEVA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Foreign diplomats residing in the Swiss cities of Bern and Geneva owe millions of Swiss francs every year in parking and other traffic-related fines which go unpaid, according to reports from SonntagsZeitung newspaper on Sunday.

The report said between 2014 and 2017, over 745,000 Swiss francs (764,000 U.S. dollars) in traffic fines were issued to foreign diplomats in canton Bern, which hosts 90 embassies, but only 141,300 Swiss francs (144,900 U.S. dollars) were paid.

In canton Geneva, home to the European headquarters of the United Nations and 33 diplomatic missions, the situation is worse. During the same period, traffic fines exceeded 4 million Swiss francs (4.1 million U.S. dollars). The authorities however were only able to collect just under 629,000 Swiss francs (645,000 U.S. dollars), leaving a deficit of 3.4 million Swiss francs (3.49 million U.S. dollars).

Drivers of cars with diplomatic plates benefit from diplomatic immunity under the rules of the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. In the case of non-payment of fines, traffic violation notices will usually be passed from the police to the Swiss foreign ministry which will in turn forward the notice to the embassies.

If the fine continues to go unpaid, the foreign ministry may exert pressure by means of a simple appeal to respect local law or by summoning the offending driver or their superior to an official meeting. In the most serious cases, the foreign ministry could seek to have the diplomatic immunity of the offending driver lifted, or have the person recalled to their home country.

The payment situation appears to have improved slightly in recent years. In 2010, only ten percent of diplomatic traffic fines in canton Bern were paid. This compares to 25 percent for last year, and around 20 percent in Geneva.

"The Swiss foreign ministry does not comment on the payment behavior of the staff of foreign diplomatic missions in Switzerland," a Swiss ministry spokesperson told Sonntagszeitung newspaper on Sunday. Enditem