Article 12

1. Representatives of Contracting States, alternate Representatives and their advisers or experts, if any, shall enjoy, while attending meetings of the Administrative Council and of any body established by it, and in the course of their journeys to and from the place of meeting, the following privileges and immunities:
(a) immunity from arrest or detention and from seizure of their personal luggage, except when found committing, attempting to commit, or just having committed an offence;
(b) immunity from jurisdiction, even after the termination of their mission, in respect of acts, including words written and spoken, done by them in the exercise of their functions; this immunity shall not apply, however, in the case of a motor traffic offence committed by one of the persons referred to above, nor in the case of damage caused by a motor vehicle belonging to or driven by such a person;
(c) inviolability for all their official papers and documents;
(d) the right to use codes and to receive documents or correspondence by special courier or sealed bag;
(e) exemption for themselves and their spouses from all measures restricting entry and from aliens' registration formalities;
(f) the same facilities in the matter of currency and exchange control as are accorded to the representatives of foreign Governments on temporary official missions.

2. Privileges and immunities are accorded to the persons referred to in paragraph 1, not for their personal advantage, but in order to ensure complete independence in the exercise of their functions in connection with the Organisation. Consequently, a Contracting State has the duty to waive the immunity in all cases where, in the opinion of that State, such immunity would impede the course of justice and where it can be waived without prejudicing the purposes for which it was accorded.