Honorary Consuls Are De Facto Diplomats

Oct 11, 2014 Peeping Tom

We should not be splitting hairs about who is a diplomat. In terms of common usage, a diplomat is an official representative of a country in another country and who is so recognized and accredited by the receiving State.
In this regard, an Honorary Consul can be considered a de facto diplomat. In fact, many of those persons who are appointed as Honorary Consuls consider themselves as Diplomats even though their functions are often limited to providing consular services and promoting business and investment contacts between nationals of the sending State and those of the receiving State.
In strict diplomatic parlance, there are differences between a Diplomat and an Honorary Consul. The first of these is that there are different international conventions governing each, even though these conventions have similarities. Diplomatic relations between countries are covered by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations while there is a separate Convention for Consul Relations.
An Honorary Consul is different from a career consul in that he or she is not officially stationed at the resident embassy. Neither does he or she enjoy the full range of diplomatic privileges and immunities accorded to diplomatic staff. Indeed, whatever immunities honorary consuls enjoy are restricted to their functions as consul officers of the sending State.
In this regard, they enjoy personal inviolability concerning their consul functions. They cannot be arrested or detained in relation to these functions. Unlike Diplomats, however, they can be arrested or detained for offences and acts unrelated to their consul duties.
They are also entitled to a certain degree of respect and privileges. For example the receiving State is obligated to provide full facilities to the Honorary Consul to perform his or her duties. This is not dissimilar to what is provided to bona fide diplomats.
The receiving State is also obligated to allow where necessary for the consul to acquire property for his or her office or to assist in that person finding accommodation.
Further, the receiving State is required to assure freedom of movement of the Consul. The Consul is equally entitled to freedom and protection for his official correspondence including the use of diplomatic bags and couriers and all the privileges associated with the use of such bags and couriers.
If there is a case whereby a national of the sending state is imprisoned or detained, the consul has a right to visit that individual in the prison or detention facility.
In communicating with persons or authorities in the receiving State, the Honorary Consul is not constrained to channel the communication through the Foreign Ministry of the receiving State. He can communicate directly with persons or offices within the receiving State.
Like his embassy colleagues, he is also entitled to collect fees for the consular services provided, and these fees shall be tax free.
As can be seen, while an honorary consul does not enjoy the full range of privileges and immunities accorded to a Diplomat, the privileges, immunities he or she enjoys and the obligations to the Honorary Consul by the receiving State are still wide ranging and substantial.
Indeed, because of this, because the privileges and immunities of the Honorary Consul are governed by international conventions and because the Honorary Consul is an official representative of the sending State, it is incumbent that the Foreign Ministry assumes political responsibility for the actions of that individual.
If that person should commit any private indiscretions, then obviously he or she is not protected by the convention governing relations between States in relation to consul officers. However the sending State has to be cognizant of the possible damage which any such indiscretion can inflict on a country’s reputation and indeed on relations with the receiving State. The indiscretion will affect the sending State. Its reputation and image are going to be sullied and this can spill over to diplomatic relations.
In this context, I trust that the Foreign Ministry would assume greater responsibility for exercising supervision and oversight over its many Honorary Consuls. If the situation warrants, the Foreign Ministry should where necessary, take action to prevent damage to the country’s image and reputation as a result of any indiscretion committed by any Honorary Consul.
It is not merely a question of saying that Honorary Consuls are not Diplomats. It is question of protecting the country’s reputation.

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Honorary Consuls Are De Facto Diplomats

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