Diplomats And Their Objectives

Diplomats and Their Objectives

In this essay I am going to discuss diplomatic law, and the negotiations that went into the Vienna Convention and diplomatic immunities. As well the role diplomatic agents play in serving their country abroad, the role of dependents and technical staff, and the immunities they have. I will apply these international law issues to relevant international law cases that apply to these issues of diplomats and diplomatic law. Some of the international law cases that I will discuss is the 1947 United Nations Mission Immunities Case, the 1979 Teheran Hostage Case, and the 1997 Makharadze Case.

“Diplomatic law falls into the realm of international law that governs permanent and temporary diplomats and their missions”(usembassy.gov). As I stated before diplomatic immunity is an important and fundamental aspect of diplomatic law.

A diplomatic mission is a group of people from a state or an international organization such as the United Nations. A permanent diplomatic mission is known as an embassy, and the head of the mission is called the ambassador. An important aspect and job for the members of the diplomatic mission are negotiations. Diplomats are often times convened to act as mediator, and hear all sides of the argument over an issue and come up with a conclusion based on international law. An important negotiation the involved diplomats was the Camp David Accord which took place in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter. Weeks of negotiation led to accords being signed which in turn led directly to the signing of the Israeli-Egypt Peace Treaty. (www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/campdavid/)

The roles of consular agents in serving their countries abroad are somewhat similar to the diplomatic ambassador; however there are some distinguishing differences. The consular agent is an official government representative that is sent to another country, where its normal role is acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consuls own country. The consul also serves in helping to facilitate trade and friendly peaceful relations between the country the consul is representing and the country that the consul is carrying out his or her mission. While there is only one ambassador acting as a representative with their main role being making diplomatic relations between the countries, there may be several consuls located throughout the major cities in the country. The main role of the consul is to assist with issues to both citizens of the consul’s country who happen to be living or traveling abroad, as well as to assist citizens of the country that the consul is working in, that wish to travel or communicate with the consul’s country.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic relations took place in Vienna, Austria from March 2nd to April 14th. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic relations is an international treaty on diplomatic intercourse and the privileges and immunities of a diplomatic mission. This treaty comes with a number of articles that explain the role of the diplomat as well as what the diplomat’s job is and the immunities that come with it, some of the more important articles state that the establishment of diplomatic relations between states, and permanent diplomatic missions must take place by mutual consent between the countries. The Vienna convention also states “that the receiving state has the right to return the diplomat and is not obliged to give reasons to the sending state for a refusal of the prior agreement.”(Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Sinclair, 1973) When this happens the other state will usually return that countries diplomats. This is not seen as a problem but actually helps in keeping the diplomatic process fair. The Vienna Convention supported diplomatic immunities as a sign of peace and friendship between countries. From the beginning diplomatic agents have in mind the principle of the United Nations that concerns the sovereignty and equality of states, the maintenance of international peace, and the promotion of friendly relations among nations.(Sinclair 1973) The Vienna Convention gave privileges such as immunity to diplomatic agents, believing that it would contribute to the friendly relations between nations. The Vienna convention also states the immunities are not in place to benefit the agent; however the immunities are put in place so the agent can perform their diplomatic missions efficiently.(Sinclair 1973)

Another important case that deals with diplomatic immunity, and played a large role in getting immunity is the 1947 United Nations Mission Immunities Case. On February 1946 a resolution was made concerning the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the United Nations and by various specialized agencies. This case states the immunities that members of the specialized agencies receive while at meetings.(Diplomatic Handbook, Feltham, 2004)

“(a) Immunity from personal arrest or detention and from seizure of their personal baggage, and in respect of words spoken or written and all acts done by them in their official capacity, immunity from legal process of every kind;

(b) Inviolability for all papers and documents;

(c) The right to use codes and to receive papers or correspondence