Police today confirmed the man presented to Wellington Central police station at 9am and was served a summons to appear at the Wellington District Court on November 14.
The man faced one charge of assault. A police spokesman said no further comment would be made as the case was before the courts.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and its High Commission in Wellington have been contacted for comment.
What is diplomatic immunity and how can it be waived?
“Immunity” can be granted to diplomats and their families under international law – the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.
It’s a long-standing principle designed to ensure diplomats and foreign representatives can perform their duties with freedom, independence and security, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) explains.
Former British High Commissioner Vicki Treadell told the Herald previously this was particularly useful in countries with poor human rights.
Diplomatic immunity means a person cannot be arrested or detained, prosecuted or subpoenaed as a witness. They can, however, be issued a traffic infringement notice.
MFAT documents set out how the New Zealand Government expects the sending state – the country the diplomat is representing – to waive the immunity of a foreign representative or accredited family member where a serious crime is alleged to allow for legal proceedings against the individual.
The definition of a “serious crime” here is one with a penalty of imprisonment of 12 months or more.
“Serious crimes therefore include offences against persons such as murder, manslaughter, sexual offences, and common assault; certain driving offences such as dangerous driving causing injury; and certain property offences including theft of more than $500,” MFAT documentation says.
An individual who is immune from local jurisdiction cannot waive their own immunity.
Immunity belongs to the sending state, not to the individual, and must be waived by the sending state, MFAT says.
In 2020, then Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern said she had spoken with South Korea’s President over disappointment that diplomatic immunity was not waived during the police investigations facing a South Korean diplomat.
In late August, the South Korean diplomat was given a suspended jail sentence after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a New Zealand staffer at a Wellington embassy.
In 2018, a landlord was left fuming at MFAT which protected a foreign diplomat who owed $20,000 in rent and damage to the property.
The Tenancy Tribunal had ruled in favour of the Wellington landlord – but MFAT intervened, saying the proceeding should never have taken place because the person had diplomatic immunity.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.