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Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations

Official Name

This treaty is officially known as the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations.

Signatories

This treaty is currently signed and recognised by 179 states. 81 states were represented at the negotiation of the treaty. These were:

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic, Ceylon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic , Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Federation of Malaya, Finland, France, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Republic of Viet Nam (South Vietnam), Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of South Africa, USSR, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia.

Dates

The original 81 states signed the treaty on April 18 1961 and would be implemented in 1964.

Place

The negotiations took place in the Neue Hofburg, the Imperial Palace in Vienna that was once the residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, from March 2 to 14 April 1961.

Languages

The original treaty was written in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Chinese.

Key Points

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is the basis of current diplomatic law. It defines terms used by the international community and establishes the rule of diplomatic immunity. According to the treaty, inter-state relations must be mutually agreed upon.

Key definitions include:

• Head of mission - the person appointed by the sending state to be the authority of the mission.
• Members of the mission - the head of mission and members of staff of the mission.
• Sending state - the nation that is sending a diplomatic mission to represent their citizens in another country.
• Receiving state - the nation in which the diplomatic mission is established.

The head of the diplomatic mission, either an ambassador or envoy appointed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, or a Minister from the foreign state, retains negotiating power, as well as diplomatic immunity. Members of the diplomatic mission, as well as family members of the ambassador or Minister, administration and technical staff and private servants are subject to free movement throughout the country and communication and mail free from interference from the state.

The "premises of the mission", normally an embassy or consulate, cannot be entered by citizens of the receiving state without permission from the head of mission. Whilst the diplomatic mission is in the receiving state, the government of the receiving state is responsible for any and all damage to the premises of the mission, and all property and transport of the mission is immune to repossession and searches by the state. These conditions also apply to the home of the head of mission.

As a condition of diplomatic immunity, members of the state are not obliged to give evidence as a witness of the law, and are still subject to laws of their home nation. However, it is expected that members of the mission will respect and follow local laws, as well as not interfere with internal issues of the receiving state and the sending state can relinquish the rights of diplomatic immunity.

Events as a result of the treaty

Since the 1960s international relations have been tense throughout the world. Relations between the Soviet Bloc and the West heavily influenced events throughout the world till 1991. Many violations have occurred over the years, however negotiations between nations have mostly led to amicable endings and no violent disputes.

Relations between Libya and Great Britain and the United States particularly have been subject to scrutiny throughout the 1980s. In 1984 Britain broke diplomatic ties with Libya after a London policewomen was shot from a Libyan consulate. Following this event 140 Libyans were deported from Britain.

Iraq, under the government of Saddam Hussein, also violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations in 1990 during his invasion of Kuwait. On September 15, the Washington Post reported that Iraqi soldiers had stormed the missions of France, Canada and Belgium, taking hostage 4 French nationals.

Current events concerning the treaty

The biggest issue concerning the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations in the past few years has been Zimbabwe. In March 2000, a London newspaper, The Guardian, reported that the Zimbabwean government broke open diplomatic mail belonging to the British mission. The Zimbabwean government, under the rule of President Robert Mugabe has ignored international law repeatedly and caused another incident with the British government, as well as the United States in June 2008 when members of the UK and US missions were stopped at a roadblock, detained and interrogated for five hours.

Resources Used:

"Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General- TREATY I-III--3.asp." United Nations Treaty Collection/Collection des trait. 06 Oct. 2008 <http://untreaty.un.org/sample/EnglishInternetBible/partI/chapterIII/treaty3.asp>.

NewsBank, inc. A Premier Information Provider. 07 Oct. 2008 <http://www.newsbank.com/>.

United Nations Treaty Collection/Collection des trait. 02 Oct. 2008 <http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf>.