United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1948

This Act gives legal force in Pakistan to the 1946 international Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, and lets the Federal Government extend similar privileges to other international organizations by notification. Section 2 states that the provisions set out in the Act's Schedule (which reproduces the Convention itself) have the force of law in Pakistan, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law. Section 3 allows the Federal Government to apply the same protections to other international bodies where required by an international agreement -- footnotes to the text confirm this has, over the years, been applied to organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, UNICEF, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the International Organization for Migration.

The Schedule sets out the substance of these protections. Article I gives the UN legal personality -- the capacity to contract, hold property, and sue or be sued. Article II protects UN property from search, requisition, confiscation, or any form of interference (Sections 2-4 of the Schedule), lets the UN hold and transfer funds in any currency without restriction (Section 5), and exempts UN assets and income from direct taxes and customs duties on goods imported for official use (Sections 7-8). Article III gives the UN favourable treatment for its official communications and the right to use codes and diplomatic-style couriers.

Article IV protects representatives of member states while performing UN duties, giving them immunity from arrest and legal process for their official acts, inviolability of their papers, and other privileges similar to those of diplomats -- though this immunity can be, and in some cases must be, waived by their own government if it would otherwise obstruct justice (Section 14). Article V gives UN officials immunity from legal process for official acts and exemption from tax on their UN salaries, while the Secretary-General and Assistant Secretaries-General receive full diplomatic-level immunities (Article V, Sections 18-19). Article VI extends similar protections to outside experts performing UN missions. Article VII covers UN laissez-passer travel documents, and Article VIII provides that unresolved disputes over interpreting the Convention are referred to the International Court of Justice.

Section 4 allows the Federal Government to make rules to carry out the Act's purposes.