Part II Commentaries to Typical Sofa Rules, 14 Vehicles

Subject(s):

Military assistance — Military matters — Peace keeping

This chapter addresses the issues that come with vehicle registration. The UN Model SOFA and NATO SOFA implicitly provide that service vehicles shall not be subject to registration by the Receiving State. Rather the Sending State—and in UN peace operations the UN Secretariat—bears responsibility for this. In addition, the NATO SOFA does not deal with the registration of private vehicles. The principle is therefore that of submission to the laws and regulations of the Receiving State. The question of insurance for service vehicles meanwhile is largely a moot one, as they are property of the Sending State, a self-insurer. The purpose of insurance is to compensate victims for damage and claims arising out of the operation of service vehicles in the performance of official duty.