Diplomatic law is that area of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

that governs permanent and temporary diplomatic missions. A fundamental concept of diplomatic law is that of

diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.

, which derives from

state immunity The doctrine and rules of state immunity concern the protection which a sovereign state, state is given from being sued in the courts of other states. The rules relate to legal proceedings in the courts of another state, not in a state's own cour ...

. Key elements of diplomatic law are the immunity of diplomatic staff, the inviolability of the diplomatic mission and its grounds, and the security of diplomatic correspondence and diplomatic bags. Famous cases involving the breaking of diplomatic laws includes the

Iran hostage crisis The Iran hostage crisis () began on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981. Th ...

in 1979, the shooting of a British police woman ( Murder of Yvonne Fletcher) from the Libyan Embassy in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1984, and the discovery of a former

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

Minister in a diplomatic crate at Stansted airport in 1984. It is also an accepted principle of customary international law and is recognised between countries as a matter of practicality. Diplomatic law is often strictly adhered to by states because it works on reciprocity. For example, if a country expels diplomats from another country, then its diplomats would most likely be expelled from the other country.

Sources of diplomatic law

For most of history diplomatic law has mostly been customary. However, early codifications of diplomatic law include the British Diplomatic Privileges Act 1708. An important treaty with regards to diplomatic law is the 1961

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. Its aim is to facilitate "the development of friendly relations" among government ...

. Questions not expressly regulated by the Convention continue to be governed by the rules of

customary international law Customary international law consists of international legal obligations arising from established or usual international practices, which are less formal customary expectations of behavior often unwritten as opposed to formal written treaties or c ...

Diplomatic immunity

The most fundamental rule of diplomatic law is that the person of a diplomatic agent is inviolable. Diplomats may not be detained or arrested, and enjoy complete immunity from

criminal prosecution In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

in the receiving state, although there is no immunity from the jurisdiction of the sending state. The only remedy the host state has in the face of offences alleged to have been committed by a diplomat is to declare him or her ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

'', which typically means that the diplomat must leave the territory of the state. In 1999, for example, an

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

of the Russian Embassy in Washington DC was declared ''persona non grata'' for suspected "bugging" of the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. The ''UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, Including Diplomatic Agents'' was adopted in 1973. It provides that states parties must make attacks upon diplomats a crime in internal law, and obliges them to extradite or prosecute offenders. However, in exceptional cases, a diplomat may be arrested or detained on the basis of self-defence or in the interests of protecting human life. The private residence, papers, correspondence and property of diplomats are also inviolable. In general, diplomats are immune from civil and administrative jurisdiction of the state in which they are serving, although there are a number of important exceptions.

Waiver of immunity

Although it is unusual, the sending state may expressly waive the immunity from jurisdiction of diplomatic agents and others possessing immunity.

Diplomatic premises

It is an absolute rule that the premises of the mission are inviolable and agents of the receiving state cannot enter them without the consent of the mission. The receiving state is under a special duty to protect the mission premises from intrusion or damage or "impairment of its dignity". By the same token, the premises of a mission must not be used in a way which is incompatible with the functions of the mission.

Diplomatic bag

The receiving state is required to permit and protect free communication on behalf of the mission for all official purposes. Such official communication is inviolable and may include the use of diplomatic couriers and messages in code and in cipher, although the consent of the receiving state is required for a wireless transmitter.

Diplomatic relations

There is no right under international law to diplomatic relations, and they exist by virtue of mutual consent. The sending state must ensure that the consent of the receiving state has been given for its proposed

head of mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, perma ...

. Similarly, the receiving state may at any time declare any member of the diplomatic mission ''

'' and thus obtain the removal of that person.

Diplomatic asylum

A right of diplomatic asylum is not universally established in international law. The

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

has emphasised that in the absence of treaty or customary rules to the contrary, a decision by a mission to grant asylum involves a derogation from the sovereignty of the receiving state. The

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

agreed a convention in 1954.Convention on Diplomatic Asylum

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Eileen Denza, ''Diplomatic Law: Commentary on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). {{Authority control