1

Diplomatic and Consular

Systems
Dr. Hala A. El Rashidy
Office:
No. 50, FEPS New Building, Third Floor
Email:
hala.elrashidy07@gmail.com;
h_elrashidy07@hotmail.com;
 Composition of Diplomatic Mission
 As we have discussed before, there are three
prerequisites for the conduct and establishment of
diplomatic relations, which are the following:

 1. International Legal Personality

 2. Mutual Recognition
 3. Mutual Consent between the concerned states in the
form of adopting a bilateral international agreement to
regulate their exchange of diplomatic relations.
 This mutual consent was recognized by VCDR 1961 in its
second article as follows:

 Article 2
 The establishment of diplomatic relations between
States, and of permanent diplomatic missions, takes
place by mutual consent.

 There is not specific form of this bilateral agreement, It

may be part of a peace treaty that is adopted between
those states, as for example the Egyptian – Israelian
Peace Treaty 1979. Also, it may be in the form of
exchaning letters between the concerned governments.
 Such agreement includes the regulation of the following
matters:

 1. The degree of diplomatic representation or the level of

the exchanged diplomatic relations : means that whether
the exchanged diplomatic mission will be an embassy or
a legation? And whether it would be headed by an
ambassador or minister plenipotentiary or charge
d'affaire?

 Article 15
 The class to which the heads of their missions are to be
assigned shall be agreed between States.
 2. The size of the exchanged diplomatic mission and the
number of its total members. (Vienna Convention has stated
in article 11/1 that in case of the silence of the concerned
bilateral agreement or in the absence of such clause, the
receiving state has the right to require from the sending state
to keep the size of its acrredited D.M in it in the reasonable
and normal limits).

 Article 11
 1. In the absence of specific agreement as to the size of the
mission, the receiving State may require that the size of a
mission be kept within limits considered by it to be
reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and
conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the
particular mission.
 3. The departments and sections that will be included in
the D.M.

 4. The place in which the D.M will be stated: in the
general diplomatic practice, the D.M is usually settled in
the capital of the receiving state, within that capital, some
receiving states define a certain quarter for the different
D.Ms received on its territory, which is usually called as
the " Diplomatic Quarter ". The K.S.A is a prominent
example in this regard.

 Article 21 of VCDR is the legal rule in this regard.

 Article 21

 1.The receiving State shall either facilitate the acquisition

on its territory, in accordance with its laws, by the
sending State of premises necessary for its mission or
assist the latter in obtaining accommodation in some
other way.

 2. It shall also, where necessary, assist missions in

obtaining suitable accommodation for their members.
 5. The way upon which the sending state will use its D.M
premise in the receiving state (whether it will be owned or
rented).

 6. Also, as we will discuss in details latter on, the

concerned adopted agreement that regulates the conduct
and the establishment of diplomatic relations between
two states includes at the same time their mutual consent
to exchange consular relations, however the vice versa is
not correct.

 7. The nationalities of the D.M members (whether they

hold the nationality of the sending state or that of the
receiving one).
 Article 8

 1.Members of the diplomatic staff of the mission should

in principle be of the nationality of the sending State.

 2.Members of the diplomatic staff of the mission may not

be appointed from among persons having the nationality
of the receiving State, except with the consent of that
State which may be withdrawn at any time.

 3.The receiving State may reserve the same right with

regard to nationals of a third State who are not also
nationals of the sending State.
 Based on this introduction, we will discuss today the
compostion of the D.M, or, in more details, the answers of
the following quetsions:

 1. What are the main components of the D.M?

 2. What about the human element of the D.M?

 3.What are the main classes of the head of the D.M? and
to whom do they submit their credentials?

 4. How can we identify the dean of the Diplomatic Corp?

 Composition of Diplomatic Mission (D.M)
Articles (4-19) of the VCDR 1961

 At the Beginning, we have to distinguish, while talking

about the composition of D.M, between two main
elements: (A) The Human Element or the “Personnel” of
the D.M, and (B) The Physical or Materialistic Element of
the D.M, i.e.: diplomatic premises, diplomatic bag or
courier, ….etc. Now, we are going to discuss, mainly, the
human element of the D.M.
 Human Element / Personnel of D.M
 We have to differentiate between three main categories
regarding the personnel of the D.M, which are as follows:

 1. Head of D.M ‫لدبلوماسية‬MM‫لبعثة ا‬MM‫رئيسا‬

 2. Members of the Staff of the mission, and it’s also classified

into 3 sub-cateogries:
 A) Diplomatic Staff‫لدبلوماسيون‬MM‫لموظفونا‬MM‫ا‬
 B) Administrative and Technical Staff‫لفنيون‬MM‫إلداريونوا‬M ‫لموظفونا‬MM‫ا‬
 C) Service Staff‫لمستخدمون‬MM‫ا‬

 3. Private Servants of the members of the mission‫لخاص‬MM‫ ا‬M‫لخدم‬MM‫ا‬

‫لدبلوماسية‬MM‫لبعثة ا‬MM‫أعضاء ا‬MM‫ب‬
 According to Article One (Paragraph a) of VCDR, “ Head
of D.M” is the person charged by the sending state with
the duty of acting in that capacity. In other words, the
Head of D.M in diplomatic practice refers to the person
who is nominated or appointed by the sending state
mainly to represent it and head its D.M within the
receiving state.

 Also, (Paragraph c) defines “Members of the Staff of the

mission” as: the members of the diplomatic staff, of the
administrative and technical staff, and of the service staff
of the mission.
 The “ Members of the Diplomatic Staff” are defined by
(Paragraph d) as the members of the staff of the mission
having diplomatic rank. i.e. Ambassadors, ministers
plenipotentiaries, consellors, diplomatic secretaries,
attachés, …

 The “Members of the Administrative and Technical Staff”

are defined by (Paragraph f) as the members of the staff
of the mission employed in the administrative and
technical service of the mission, i.e. clerical assistants,
archivists, translators, …
 The “ Members of the Service Staff ” are defined by
(Paragraph g) as the members of the staff of the mission
in its domestic service, and they are employees of the
mission itself, i.e. drivers, kitchen staff, security staff, …

 In other words, The Head of D.M is the person who is
charged by the sending state to head its D.M, and it
represents the first category of the human elements of
the D.M. And the term “members of the mission” –
according to (Paragraph b) - refers to the the Head of D.M
+ Members of the Staff of the mission (diplomatic,
administrative, technical and service staff). Also, the term
“Diplomatic Agents” refers – according to (Paragraph e) –
to the Head of D.M + members of the Diplomatic Staff,
who have diplomatic ranking.
 Another term is defined by article one (Paragraph h) of
VCDR is “Private Servants” who are the persons working
in the domestic service of a member of the mission, and
who are not an employee of the sending state.

 So, we can differentiate between the members of the

service staff and the private servants as follows:

 Service Staff: are serving in the embassy or the

diplomatic premises itself, and generally they are
nominated by the sending state, and they are part of the
“Members of the mission” who enjoy some diplomatic
immunities and privileges.

 Private Servants: are serving either the head of the Head

of D.M or any other of its members, and they are not
employees of the sending state.
 Article 1
 For the purpose of the present Convention, the following
expressions shall have the meanings hereunder assigned to
them:
 (a) The “head of the mission” is the person charged by the
sending State with the duty of acting in that capacity;
 (b) The “members of the mission” are the head of the mission
and the members of the staff of the mission;
 (c) The “members of the staff of the mission” are the members
of the diplomatic staff, of the administrative and technical staff
and of the service staff of the mission;
 (d) The “members of the diplomatic staff” are the members of
the staff of the mission having diplomatic rank;
 (e) A “diplomatic agent” is the head of the mission or a member
of the diplomatic staff of the mission;
 (f) The “members of the administrative and technical staff”
are the members of the staff of the mission employed in the
administrative and technical service of the mission;
 (g) The “members of the service staff” are the members of
the staff of the mission in the domestic service of the
mission;
 (h) A “private servant” is a person who is in the domestic
service of a member of the mission and who is not an
employee of the sending State;
 (i) The “premises of the mission” are the buildings or parts
of buildings and the land ancillary thereto, irrespective of
ownership, used for the purposes of the mission including
the residence of the head of the mission.
 Head of Diplomatic Mission
 Article 14 :

 1.Heads of mission are divided into three classes, namely:

 (a) That of ambassadors or nuncios accredited to Heads of

State, and other heads of mission of equivalent rank;
 (b) That of envoys, ministers and internuncios accredited to
Heads of State;
 (c) That of chargés d’affaires accredited to Ministers for
Foreign Affairs.

 2.Except as concerns precedence and etiquette, there shall be

no differentiation between heads of mission by reason of their
class.
 As referred above, the Head of D.M, is the person who is
appointed by the sending state mainly to represent it and
to head its D.M within the receiving state.

 According to article 14 of VCDR, the Heads of D.M are

divided into 3 classes, namely:
 1. Ambassadors ‫لسفراء‬MM‫ ا‬or nuncios (the representative of
the Papal state) ‫لفاتيكان‬MM‫ابا ا‬MM‫لرسوليممثل ب‬MM‫لقاصد ا‬MM‫لبابويأو ا‬MM‫لسفير ا‬MM‫ا‬
 2. Ministers Plenipotentiaries‫لمفوضون‬MM‫لوزراء ا‬MM‫ا‬
 3. Chargés d’ affaires‫ل‬MM‫ألعما‬MM‫ا‬MM‫ ب‬M‫لقائم‬MM‫ا‬
 Although it is not obligatory that the heads of missions
by whom the states are to be represented in each other's
territory must be of the same class, it is the normal
diplomatic practice, though there are exceptions, to
exchange envoys of the same class. In recent years,
however, any differentiation based on the class to which
an envoy belongs has practically disappeared save in the
case of their precedence.
 The classification of diplomatic agents in well defined
categories was done for the first time in the Congress of
Vienna 1815 which was later modified in the Congress of
Aix la Chapelle 1818. Under these regulations the
diplomatic representatives were divided into following
classes: (I) Ambassadors. (2) Envoys and Ministers
Plenipotentiary. Ministers resident accredited to the
sovereign, and (4) Charge d'Affaires accredited to the
Minister of Foreign Affairs. This classification holds good
even today with the exception that Ministers Resident are
no longer regarded as heads of mission.l The
representatives of the Pope were known as legates or
nuncios who ranked with the ambassadors, and
internuncios who ranked with ministers plenipotentiary.
 Except as concerns precedence ‫ألسبقية‬MM‫ ا‬and etiquette‫إلتيكيت‬M ‫ا‬,
there shall be no differentiation between heads of D.M by
reason of their class, and this is the main achievement of
VCDR in this regard, that it equals between the different
classes or ranks of the Head of D.M regarding their
functions and their immunities, except for precedence and
etiquette.
 The issue of Head of D.M precedence is the subject of
article 16 of VCDR which stated that: “ Heads of mission
shall take precedence in their respective classes in the
order of the date and time of taking up their functions in
accordance with article 13 ”. Means that we have two
types of precedence, first horizontally among the Head of
D.Ms of the same rank or among each class (among
ambassadors only, and among ministers only, and among
chargé d’ affaires). Second, Vertically among the different
diplomatic classes. But to determine the date and time
the Head of D.M takes up his functions, we have to
discuss first how he is appointed.
 Article 16:

 1.Heads of mission shall take precedence in their

respective classes in the order of the date and time of
taking up their functions in accordance with article 13.
 In the Vienna Regulation 1815 it was stated that
ambassadors, legates and nuncios alone have
representative character, and by this was meant that
diplomatic agents of this class only were considered as
representing the person of their sovereign. Their
privileges were originally founded on the supposition that
they alone were competent to carry on negotiations with
the sovereign himself. This, however, has no real
significance in the modem context for ambassadors as a
rule deal only with the Minister for Foreign Affairs even in
countries which preserve a monarchical form of
government.
 In the 19th century and in the first two decades of the
present century, the diplomatic representatives of the rank
of ambassadors were exchanged with a certain amount of
discrimination since the theory that ambassadors were
personal representatives of their sovereign or the head of
state still persisted. Ambassadors were sent usually to
Great Powers or to countries which were considered to be
traditionally friendly.

 The Swiss Confederation whilst receiving ambassadors

from various countries did not until very recently accredit
any ambassadors of its own. In the present century during
the first three decades United Kingdom opened embassies
only in Tokyo, Brussels, Rio-de-Janeiro, Lisbon, Buenos
Aires, Warsaw and at Santiago.
 The class of diplomatic agents known as envoy
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, constituted the
second class of diplomatic representatives and Ministers
resident formed the third class. Both these classes of
diplomatic representatives were accredited to the head of
state though unlike ambassadors they were considered not
to have any personal right of audience with the sovereign.

 In modern practice accreditation of Ministers resident as

head of a mission appears to have been discontinued. In
fact the recent Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
mentions only of one class of ministers together with
envoys and internuncios as head of mission.
 However, in the case of a number of important missions it has
been customary to give the rank of a Minister (presumably
equivalent to Minister resident) to the deputy chief of the
mission and occasionally to some of the other senior
diplomats.

 Until recently envoys extraordinary and ministers

plenipotentiary constituted the great majority of diplomatic
agents. In recent years, however, and especially since 1940
the tendency has been generally to upgrade the existing
legations to embassies and in case of fresh diplomatic
relations to have the same on an embassy level. The newly
independent countries have not been slow to fall in line with
this recent trend, and now it has practically become the
universal practice to establish diplomatic relations on an
embassy level and to exchange ambassadors.
 The inevitable result of this trend in multiplication of
embassies has diminished the importance and prestige
of the title of ambassador, and accreditation of an
ambassador is no longer regarded as a compliment from
the initiating country to the other. The Vienna Conference
of Plenipotentiaries also considered the possibility of
abolishing the class of diplomatic agents known as
ministers but it was felt that even without any specific
provision at present the class would soon disappear by
itself.
 The charges d'affaires are accredited to the Minister for
Foreign Affairs and not to the head of the state though
circumstances have occurred in which their credentials
have been addressed to the head of state.! In modem
practice a charge d'affaires is rarely accredited by one
state to another as a permanent measure. 2 They are
generally accredited to governments which are newly
recognized after a civil war or a revolution. For example,
Great Britain had posted only a charge d'affaires in
Peking after its recognition of the Communist regime.
The status of their representative was, no doubt, raised to
that of ambassador or minister when conditions settled
down.
 Charges d'affaires ad interim are appointed pending the
arrival of the head of mission as a temporary measure
and on all occasions when the head of the mission is
away from his post. The Vienna Convention I96I provides
that if the post of the head of the mission is vacant, or if
the head of the mission is unable to perform his
functions, a charge d'affaires shall act provisionally, and
the name of the charge d'affaires shall be notified either
by the head of the mission or by the Foreign Office of the
sending state to the appropriate Ministry of the receiving
state.
 Article 19 :
 1. If the post of head of the mission is vacant, or if the head
of the mission is unable to perform his functions a chargé
d’affaires ad interim shall act provisionally as head of the
mission. The name of the chargé d’affaires ad interim shall
be notified, either by the head of the mission or, in case he is
unable to do so, by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the
sending State to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the
receiving State or such other ministry as may be agreed.
 2. In cases where no member of the diplomatic staff of the
mission is present in the receiving State, a member of the
administrative and technical staff may, with the consent of
the receiving State, be designated by the sending State to be
in charge of the current administrative affairs of the mission.
 As regards the diplomatic relations of the Papal state, it
may be stated that legates, who were always cardinals,
were papal ambassadors extraordinary charged with
special missions, primarily representing the Pope as
head of the church. They were sent only to the states
which acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the Pope.
The papal representatives of the second class
corresponding to ministers plenipotentiay have been
designated internuncios. Legates, however, are not at
present regarded as heads of missions.