On April 18, the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations was signed. It regulated their establishment and termination, the establishment of representative offices and all their functions, established diplomatic classes - the charge d'affaires, envoy and ambassador, streamlined the accreditation of heads of diplomatic missions and subordinate personnel.
Immunity
The Convention defines the immunity and privileges of the diplomatic mission as a whole and the strictly personal immunities and privileges of technical and diplomatic personnel. The most important is the inviolability of the premises. The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations prohibits the authorities of the host states from entering without the consent of the head of mission. On the contrary, the authorities should protect the missions from any intrusion and even minor damage, from disturbing the calm of the missions. In the light of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, diplomatic privileges and immunities impose on the accrediting state many taboos and even duties.
A search, requisition, arrest and the like cannot be carried out on the premises of a representative office. Postal and other relations of the mission with its state should also be inviolable. Staff and their families also enjoy this right: their personalities and homes are inviolable with respect to the jurisdiction of the host country. The service is exempt from income tax. The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations has two optional protocols: the laws on citizenship of the host country do not apply, the jurisdiction of an international court is mandatory.
Diplomatic law
This is part of international law with a set of rules that set the regulation for the status and functions of state bodies of foreign relations. This is in full compliance with the main diplomatic forms: bilateral diplomacy is carried out through special missions, multilateral diplomacy is carried out by delegations through sessions of bodies of international organizations or by the representation of countries that are permanently attached to international organizations.
The main treaty is the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In 1969, the Hague also adopted the Convention on Special Missions, and in 1975 in Vienna, the Convention on the Universal Character of Relations between Representative Offices and International Organizations. This is not the first Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Vienna hosted country representatives twice. The Russian Federation participated in both Vienna conventions.
Government agencies of external relations
External relations bodies are divided into foreign and domestic. The latter include the highest state body, which determines the foreign policy of the state, the collegial or sole head of state, representing the country in the international arena, the government that directs foreign policy, and the body of this government is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Foreign bodies of external relations may be temporary and permanent. The latter are embassies or missions, representative offices in international organizations, consulates. Temporary - these are special delegations or missions in international bodies or at conferences.
Functions and Composition
Established diplomatic relations between states exchange missions by special agreement regarding the class of head of mission. There are three levels: charge d'affaires, envoy, ambassador. Just an attorney needs to be distinguished from a temporary attorney, who in the absence of an ambassador does his job. The Vienna Convention of 1961 defined these three classes: ambassadors and envoys are accredited by heads of state, and charge d'affaires - by foreign ministers.
Ranks in the structure of diplomatic representation are determined in accordance with the domestic law of the accrediting country. Personnel also has three categories: in addition to diplomatic personnel, there are administrative and technical (cryptographers, accountants, translators, clerical workers, and so on) and maintenance personnel (cooks, security guards, drivers, gardeners, and so on). Diplomatic personnel are inviolable and are not subject to customs inspection. It is possible to transport any things to the second and third categories of personnel for acquiring, but they are not exempted from customs. The Vienna Convention (1961) and its significance were very soon and positively evaluated by the participating States.
Establishment of activities. Agreman
Diplomatic relations are established, and representative offices are established only by agreement of countries. But, by the way, the first does not always entail the second. Diplomatic relations can be established without the establishment of a representative office, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) specifically stipulates this. The appointment and adoption of a diplomatic representative is accreditation. There are four stages:
- Agreman. This is the consent of the host state regarding the appointment of a particular person in one capacity or another, and the host country has the right to refuse. Aggreman's request is made confidentially and not necessarily in writing. With the consent (agreman), the head of this representative office will automatically be a persona grata (persona grata in Latin - a desirable person).
- The official appointment of the head of mission.
- Arrival at destination state.
- Presentation of credentials signed by the head of state - powers in general.
Then follows the immediate execution of their work.
Termination of activity
The mission of the diplomatic representative is terminated for a good reason (resignation, illness, new appointment), and this is dictated by his own state. In another case, when the initiative comes from the host country, it is a recognition of a diplomat as an undesirable person (persona non grata) or a case of misconception - removal of diplomatic immunity from him, while he is declared a private person. Sometimes this is a diplomat’s refusal to do his job.
The significance of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is that almost every force majeure case in the relations of countries establishing a diplomatic mission is provided for by it. The termination of the functioning of the entire mission is due either to the severance of any relations between these countries (practically declaring war), or if one of the two countries ceases to exist. A representative office may also cease its activity upon an unconstitutional change of government or in the event of a social revolution.
Special missions
Missions of various levels may have a diplomatic character, in accordance with international customs prevailing in this field. These are missions that are sent by the state to solve certain issues and perform certain tasks. Sometimes missions are sent by several countries if the question is of general interest. The head of the country, if he heads this mission, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and any other representatives of high rank, will necessarily enjoy immunity and privileges in any state.
The boundaries of privileges and immunities are not clearly laid, but heads of state and other persons of high rank can specifically discuss all issues related to this and coordinate requirements with each other. However, there were no precedents for the immunity of a diplomat to be violated from the jurisdiction of any plan - criminal, administrative or civil. Judging by many years of observation, customs privileges are also granted to diplomats in full. If people of the highest rank of the diplomatic mission do not have, then their status is still similar to the status of the corresponding category of personnel of the diplomatic mission.
Immunity Restrictions
Some restrictions of privileges and immunities, confirmed by the Vienna Convention, are not sufficiently justified. The Soviet Union did not sign this convention due to disagreement with the allegations in article 25, which provides for the inviolability of the premises of a special mission. The Convention allows local authorities to appear in these premises if a fire or other natural disaster occurs, without the consent of the head of mission. Fire cannot be the cause of a breach of immunity.
Suing
Article 31 of the Vienna Convention, which prescribes immunity from the jurisdiction of the host country of all members of the mission’s diplomatic staff, also establishes that claims may be brought against these diplomats in order to recover damages from accidents caused by vehicles that were used outside their official work.
Accession to the Convention
The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides for openness for signature by far not all categories of states. Countries must be members of the UN or other specialized agencies, participate in the Statute of the International Court of Justice, or be invited by the UN General Assembly. This is expressly stated in Articles 48 (documents of 1961) and 76 (documents of 1963).
For example, for this reason, South Ossetia was not recognized as a party to the Vienna Convention. The South Ossetian parliament admitted that their country does not fall into any of the categories and that some articles of the Convention are clearly discriminatory. However, South Ossetia became a party to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), but it acceded to these documents unilaterally.