Art. 21 deals with the personal immunities and privileges of individuals associated with the Centre's work. It covers the members of the Administrative Council and its Chairman (Art. 5), the Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General and other officers and employees of the Centre as well as conciliators, arbitrators and members of ad hoc committees.

The drafting of what became Art. 21 was based on the parallel provisions governing persons associated with the World Bank's work (History, Vol. II, pp. 255, 388, 391/2, 490/1, 563). It underwent relatively little change during the Convention's drafting (History, Vol. I, pp. 94, 96, 98). Art. 21 bears strong similarities to Art. VII, Sec. 8 of the World Bank's Articles of Agreement. Discussion on the drafts turned mainly on immunities for conciliators and arbitrators (para. 4 infra), on the question of waiver of immunity (para. 5 infra) and the criterion of officials of comparable rank used at the end of the Article (para. 10 infra).

Immunity from Legal Process

The persons listed in Art. 21 are immune from lawsuits or criminal prosecution as well as administrative proceedings. But this immunity only extends to acts performed by them in the exercise of their functions for the Centre. It does not extend to private acts unconnected to the Centre's activities such as car accidents. This functional immunity is in line with the position of officers of other international institutions.