Abstract
This chapter begins by noting the medieval origin of consuls as spokesmen to the local authorities of trading settlements abroad, their gradual takeover by the state, and the later merger of consular with diplomatic services. It proceeds to argue, nevertheless, that typical consular work remains different from typical diplomatic work, a fact reflected in the differences between consular and diplomatic immunity (except in the consular sections of embassies), and the existence of separate consular corps in major cities. As population movements and the size of expatriate communities have swollen dramatically, assistance to nationals—whether in distress or not—has become the hallmark of modern consular work. Chiefly for reasons of economy, honorary consuls now play an even more important role.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Further Reading
Berridge, G. R., Gerald Fitzmaurice (1865–1939), Chief Dragoman of the British Embassy in Turkey (Martinus Nijhoff: Leiden, 2007). Fitzmaurice was a member of the Levant Consular Service, so this biography has quite a bit on that subject.
Berridge, G. R., British Diplomacy in Turkey, 1583 to the Present: A study in the evolution of the resident embassy (Martinus Nijhoff: Leiden, 2009). Ch. 4.
Coates, P. D., The China Consuls: British consular officers, 1843–1943 (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1988).
Edwards, R. D., True Brits: Inside the Foreign Office (BBC Books: London, 1994). Ch. 11.
European Convention on Consular Relations (1967) [www].
Fitzgibbon, Will, ‘Wanted: Honorary Consuls for “Cash-Strapped” African Nations’, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 22 May 2018 [www].
Godsey, William D., Jr., Aristocratic Redoubt: The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War (Purdue University Press: West Lafayette, IN, 1999). See pp. 76–81.
Haynal, George et al., The Consular Function in the 21st Century: A report for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, March, 2013) [www].
Hertz, Martin F. (ed.), The Consular Dimension of Diplomacy (University Press of America: Lanham, MD, 1983).
ILC, ‘Consular Intercourse and Immunities’ [ch. 2], in Report … to the General Assembly on its work, 1 May–7 July 1961 [www].
Jacobson, Barbara Rosen, Katharina E. Höne, and Jovan Kurbalija, Data Diplomacy: Updating diplomacy to the big data era (DiploFoundation: Geneva, February 2018) [www]. See pp. 29–30.
Jazbec, Milan, ‘The creation of the Slovenian state and its diplomatic service’, February 2012 [www].
Lee, Luke T. and John Quigley, Consular Law and Practice, 3rd edn (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2008). The main text but now rather dated.
Mattingly, Garrett, Renaissance Diplomacy (Penguin Books: Harmondsworth, 1965). See pp. 63–4.
Melissen, Jan and Ana Mar Fernández (eds), Consular Affairs and Diplomacy (Martinus Nijhoff: Leiden, 2011). For the history of the ‘consular institution’, see the four very good chapters in Part III: a general one, followed by chapters on the history of the Spanish, Dutch, and French consular services.
Milanovic, Marko, ‘The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Immunities, Inviolability and the Human Right to Life’, Human Rights Law Review, vol. 20(1), March 2020.
Platt, D. C. M., The Cinderella Service: British consuls since 1825 (Longman: London, 1971). The best general account of the subject.
Rana, Kishan, 21st Century Diplomacy: A practitioner’s guide (Continuum: London, 2011). Ch. 11.
Rana, Kishan, The 21st Century Ambassador (DiploFoundation: Malta, 2004). See pp. 154–6.
Roberts, Sir Ivor (ed.), Satow’s Diplomatic Practice, 7th edn (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2018). Book II.
Shaw, L. M. E., The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and the English Merchants in Portugal, 1654–1810 (Ashgate: Aldershot, 1998). Chs. 4 and 5.
UN Conference on Consular Relations, Vienna 4 March–22 April 1963. Official Records. Vols. I and 2 [www].
U.S. Department of State, Digest of United States Practice in International Law [www]. All volumes since that for 1989–90 online. This is a mine of information for the intrepid—search ‘consular’.
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963) [www].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Berridge, G.R. (2022). Consulates. In: Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85931-2_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85931-2_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-85930-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85931-2
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)