THE MIGRANT Rights Centre Ireland has appealed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs to introduce legislation to prevent foreign embassies claiming diplomatic immunity in disputes over contracts of service and employment.
The call was made after the Rights Commissioner Service ruled it had no jurisdiction in a case brought by Ukrainian domestic worker Valentyna Khristonsen against her former employer, South African ambassador Priscilla Jana.
Ms Khristonsen was employed between February 2006 and August 2008 as a domestic worker in the ambassador’s private residence. She claimed breaches of her employment rights under the Unfair Dismissals Act, the Payment of Wages Act and the Organisation of Working Time Act.
In a written ruling this month, the Rights Commissioner Service said it had no jurisdiction based on the ambassador’s claim of diplomatic immunity, lodged in November.
The Migrant Rights Centre represented Ms Khristonsen. The centre’s senior legal adviser, Pat O’Donoghue, said they would appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
“This case clearly demonstrates the need to change the current system, in which diplomats and embassies in Ireland can violate the employment rights of their workers without any fear of prosecution when they claim immunity.”
Anele Jakiel of the Domestic Workers Action Group called on the Minister to “introduce policy changes that will prohibit diplomats in Ireland from claiming immunity in cases such as these”.
