A
diplomatic mission is a group of people from one
state or an international
inter-governmental organization (such as the
United Nations) present in another state to represent the sending state/organization in the receiving state. In practice, a
diplomatic mission usually denotes the
permanent mission, namely the office of a country's diplomatic representatives in the
capital city of another country.
Naming
A permanent diplomatic mission is typically known as an
embassy or
chancery, and the person in charge of the mission is known as an
ambassador. The ambassadorial residence is generally called the embassy. Some ambassadors will live outside of the chancery. For example, the American ambassador to Russia lives in a mansion known as
Spaso House outside of the chancery.
All missions to the
United Nations are known simply as
permanent missions, while missions to the
European Union are known as
permanent representations and the head of such a mission is typically both a permanent representative and an ambassador. European Union missions abroad are known as
delegations. Some countries have more particular naming for their missions and staff: a
Vatican mission is headed by a
nuncio (
Latin "envoy") and consequently known as an
apostolic nunciature.
Libya's missions were for a long time known as
people's bureaux and the head of the mission was a
secretary.
In the past a diplomatic mission headed by a lower-ranking official (an
envoy or
minister resident) was known as a
legation. Since the ranks of envoy and minister resident are effectively obsolete, the designation of
legation is no longer used today. (See
diplomatic rank.)
Missions between
Commonwealth countries are known as
high commissions and their heads are
high commissioners. This is due to the fact that an ambassador is a representative that a
head of state sends to another head of state with an
letter of credence (an
accreditation letter); since the
Commonwealth realms share the same head of state,
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, it would be strange for the
Monarch to accredit people to herself.
A
consulate is similar to (but not the same as) a diplomatic office, but with focus on dealing with individual persons and businesses, as defined by the
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A consulate or
consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. For instance, the
United Kingdom has its
Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D.C., but also maintains seven consulate-generals and four consulates. The person in charge of a consulate or consulate-general is known as a
consul or consul-general, respectively. Similar services may also be provided at the embassy (to serve the region of the capital) in what is sometimes called a
consular section.
In cases of dispute, it is common for a country to
recall its head of mission as a sign of its displeasure. This is less drastic than cutting diplomatic relations completely, and the mission will still continue operating more or less normally, but it will now be headed by a
chargé d'affaires (usually the
deputy chief of mission) who may have limited powers. (A
chargé d'affaires ad interim also heads the mission during the interim between the end of one chief of mission's term and the beginning of another).
The term "embassy" is often used to refer to the building or compound housing an ambassador's offices and staff. Technically, "embassy" refers to the diplomatic delegation itself, while the office building in which they work is known as a chancery, but this distinction is rarely used in practice. Ambassadors reside in
ambassadorial residences, which enjoy the same rights as missions.
Extraterritoriality
thumb|Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, D.C.Contrary to popular belief, diplomatic missions do not enjoy full
extraterritorial status and are not sovereign territory of the represented state. Rather, the premises of diplomatic missions remain under the jurisdiction of the host state while being afforded special privileges (such as immunity from most local laws) by the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Diplomats themselves still retain full
diplomatic immunity, and (as an adherent to the Vienna Convention) the host country may not enter the premises of the mission without permission of the represented country. The term "extraterritoriality," therefore, is often used in this broader sense when applied to diplomatic missions.
As the host country may not enter the representing country's embassy without permission, embassies are sometimes used by
refugees escaping from either the host country or a third country. For example,
North Korean nationals, who would be arrested and deported from
China upon discovery, have sought sanctuary at various third-country embassies in China. Once inside the embassy, diplomatic channels can be used to solve the issue and send the refugees to another country. Notable violations of embassy extraterritoriality include the
Iran hostage crisis (1979–1981) and the
Japanese embassy hostage crisis which took place at the ambassador's residence in
Lima,
Peru during 1996.
Role
The role of such a mission is to protect in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, within the limits permitted by international law; negotiating with the Government of the receiving State as directed by the sending State; ascertaining by lawful means conditions and developments in the receiving State, and reporting thereon to the Government of the sending State; promoting friendly relations between the sending State and the receiving State, and developing their economic, cultural and scientific relations.
Between members of the Commonwealth of Nations there are no embassies, but High Commissions, as Commonwealth nations share a special diplomatic relationship. It is generally expected that an embassy of a Commonwealth country in a non-Commonwealth country will do its best to provide diplomatic services to citizens from other Commonwealth countries if the citizen's country does not have an embassy in that country.
Canadian and
Australian nationals enjoy even greater cooperation between their respective consular services, as outlined in
Canada/Australian Consular Services Sharing Agreement. The same kind of procedure is also followed multilaterally by the member states of the
European Union (EU). European citizens in need of consular help in a country without diplomatic or consular representation of their own country may turn to any consular or diplomatic mission of another EU member state.
The rights and immunities (such as
diplomatic immunity) of diplomatic missions are codified in the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Nations that are
not recognized have legations overseas but these are not recognized as having official diplomatic status as defined by the Vienna Convention. These
de facto embassies are usually referred to as
Representative Offices. Some examples of these types of missions: the
Representative Office of the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in
Washington, D.C.;
Somaliland's representatives in
London,
Addis Ababa,
Rome, and
Washington, D.C.; the
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has a representative office in
Washington, D.C.; the
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in
Washington, D.C. (representing the
Republic of China); and the
American Institute in Taiwan (representing the United States in Taiwan). Under United States law, such offices are officially regarded by the
Department of State as "information centers"; the persons working in them do not have diplomatic visas, nor are credentials from their chiefs of mission accepted.
Countries that are not sovereign states may set up offices abroad, as in the case of
Hong Kong, which government has set up
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in various locations. Such offices assume some of the non-diplomatic functions of diplomatic posts, such as promoting trade interests and providing assistance to its citizens and residents. They are nevertheless not diplomatic missions, their personnel are not diplomats and do not have diplomatic visas, although there may be legislation providing for personal immunities and tax privileges, as in the case of the HKETOs in London and Toronto, for example.
Some cities may host more than one mission from the same country. An example is
Rome, where many states maintain missions to
Italy, another to the
Holy See and even another to the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta. It is not customary for these missions to share premises nor diplomatic personnel. Presently only the Iraqi missions to
Italy and the
Holy See share premises; however, two ambassadors are appointed, one to each country.
See also
