Over €450,000 in unpaid fines owed by Malta High Commission to UK

The Malta High Commission in the United Kingdom owes the Transport for London a whooping fee of €453,950 (£360,225) in parking fines. The total number of fines issued against the Maltese diplomatic mission amounts to 3,087.

The information was tabled in the House of Commons by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mark Simmonds.

The information relates to the value of unpaid Congestion Charge debt incurred by the diplomatic missions and international organisation in London. The fee was introduced in February 2003 and the outstanding fines were calculated until 31 December 2013.

Collectively, the Transport for London should collect £75,365,182 – €94,999,300 – from diplomatic missions and international organisations in the UK.

Countries however insist that diplomatic immunity covers the congestion charge. According to a report by the BBC in 2013, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said the department considered the congestion charge “a service rendered” under diplomatic rules, though legal immunity means diplomats cannot be prosecuted for non-payment.

The US Embassy alone owes the UK £8,172,245 (€10,310,367).

In 2012, UK media reported that Foreign Secretary William Hague – who has just stepped down from the post on Tuesday morning – said the Foreign Office had tried to persuade the diplomats to settle their debts.

“Although diplomats are entitled to immunity from criminal prosecutions, they are still expected to obey the law,” Hague had said.