Postgraduate Course: Diplomatic Law (LAWS11319)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | "Diplomatic Law" is envisaged as a course which is taught as part of the LLM "Public International Law". This course deals with one of the oldest branches of international law: the law relating to representatives of States (which in the more recent past was expanded to cover representatives of international organisations and of sub-national entities as well). The course will deal with privileges and immunities, but also with questions relating to duties and functions. It will address the law as it applies to permanent diplomats and ad hoc diplomats, but also consular agents.
The course will be taught by Dr Paul Behrens. It is envisaged to run for the first time in the academic year 2013 / 2014.
|
| Course description |
Seminar One: Introduction
This seminar will introduce students to the structure and objectives of the course, and clarify the arrangements for teaching and assessment. It will also provide a brief overview of the history of diplomatic law (in particular, its codification) and present the theoretical framework in particular of diplomatic immunities. There will also be an introduction to the main sources of diplomatic law and to models on the resolution of conflicts between sources.
Seminar Two: Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities, Part One (Property Immunities)
This session will deal with immunities which are necessary for the operation of diplomatic missions, but also with the impact that the granting of diplomatic immunities and privileges has on the jurisdiction of the receiving State. Particular emphasis will be placed on the property immunities that are enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, especially the inviolability of mission premises and archives, but also freedom of communication and correspondence.
Seminar Three: Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities, Part Two (Personal Immunities)
This session deals with the personal immunities which the Vienna Convention provides in view of civil, criminal and administrative jurisdiction. The session will also tackle questions relating to the beginning of immunities and their cessation. The seminar will explore the various categories of beneficiaries which diplomatic law recognises: members of diplomatic staff, administrative and technical staff, service staff, private servants, and the family members that might accompany them. The seminar willl additionally deal with the freedom of movement and the maxim ne impediatur legatio.
Seminar Four: Duties of the Diplomatic Agent
This session deals with the obligations which international law imposes upon diplomatic agents. It highlights the duties contained in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: in particular, the duty to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State, but also the duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of the latter. The seminar analyses the rationale of these obligations and investigates the relationship between duties and functions.
Seminar Five: Diplomatic Asylum
This session deals with the problem of diplomatic asylum in international law. It will discuss the question whether a right to asylum exists (or whether the receiving State might indeed insist on a right not to grant asylum) - both with regard to the regulation of this concept in general international law and in regional law (in particular, in the Latin American region). The question of territorial asylum and differences to diplomatic asylum will likewise be discussed as will the regulation (or lack thereof) of diplomatic asylum in international instruments.
Seminar Six: The Diplomatic Bag and the Diplomatic Courier
The regulation of the inviolability of the diplomatic bag does not appear to allow for any exceptions: diplomatic bags must not be 'opened or detained' (unlike consular bags whose opening may, under certain circumstances, be requested and which may be sent back to their places of origin, if the request is refused). This seminar will deal with the way in which the relevant norm has been interpreted in international law and the problems that arise from such an absolute provision. It will also deal with the office of the diplomatic courier and the 1989 Draft Articles on the Status of the Diplomatic Courier and the Diplomatic Bag Not Accompanied by Diplomatic Courier.
Seminar Seven: Consular Privileges and Immunities
This session deals with the development and scope of consular relations in the light particularly of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations [VCCR]. It will reflect on the role of consuls and on the differences between the immunities granted to them and those given to diplomatic agents, in particular in view of the various specific functions which the VCCR envisages for consular officials, and the somewhat more restricted immunities that apply to them. It will also deal with the issue of honorary consuls and the rules that attach to their office.
Seminar Eight: Special Missions and Representatives to International Organisations
This seminar deals with diplomats outside the field of permanent diplomatic relations and the two conventions that are relevant in this context: The Convention on Special Missions ("the 1969 Convention") and the Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organisations of a Universal Character ("the 1975 Convention", not yet in force). In the course of this session, the purposes of these conventions are being discussed as are the agents they affect; an attempt will be made to come to an assessment of the differences between them and the question why so few States have been willing to ratify the relevant instruments, will be discussed.
Seminar Nine: "Paradiplomacy" and diplomatic relations by unrecognised entities
"Paradiplomacy" is a term that has been applied to the conduct of diplomatic relations by sub-national governments. It thus refers to a concept which is of increasing importance in diplomatic relations: Scotland has its Ministry of External Affairs, Québec has a Ministry of International Relations which maintains foreign representations around the world. However, the activities of representatives sent by non-State entities raises a host of questions, ranging from the immunities which these representatives enjoy abroad to the obligations which they owe to the receiving States.
Similar points of debate arise when representatives are sent by an entity which claims Statehood, but might not be recognised as a State by the receiving State - Taiwan and Palestine are examples for this situation. This seminar will deal with these aspects of diplomacy and the way in which members of the international community have addressed these issues.
Seminar Ten: Current Issues in Diplomatic Relations
The final seminar will look at selected issues in diplomatic relations which are at the forefront of public debate. In 2013 for instance, the case of Julian Assange who had been granted asylum in the embassy of Ecuador in London, would be an obvious candidate, as would be the conduct of diplomatic relations by new actors on the international scene (South Sudan, Palestine etc). Interesting issues relating to diplomatic immunity include the status of diplomats whose countries are involved in situations of civil war (Syria, previously Libya) and the claimed immunity of persons who are involved in diplomacy in the wider sense of the term, but outside the field of permanent relations (eg Strauss-Kahn). It is expected that this seminar will give students the opportunity to apply the expertise which they have gained throughout the course and to offer a critical debate of the relevant topical issues.
A total of ten seminars is envisaged for this course, with the following topical areas (see also 'academic description'):
Seminar One: Introduction
Seminar Two: Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities, Part One (Property Immunities)
Seminar Three: Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities, Part Two (Personal Immunities)
Seminar Four: Duties of the Diplomatic Agent
Seminar Five: Diplomatic Asylum
Seminar Six: The Diplomatic Bag and the Diplomatic Courier
Seminar Seven: Consular Privileges and Immunities
Seminar Eight: Special Missions and Representatives to International Organisations
Seminar Nine: "Paradiplomacy" and diplomatic relations by unrecognised entities
Seminar Ten: Current Issues in Diplomatic Relations
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- accurately assess and critically comment upon the concept and elements of diplomatic law and consular law and their interplay with other norms of international law, eg Human Rights.
- identify and critically appraise the role played by consuls and diplomats in international affairs.
- critically evaluate the main theories relating to consular and diplomatic immunity
- demonstrate an appropriate level of research skills in locating and evaluating instruments on diplomatic and consular law, academic opinion and sources on the factual background of these areas.
- solve problems utilising the knowledge gained from the various seminars and work effectively as part of a group towards this end.
- express themselves effectively, orally and in writing, on material covered by the course.
The course will develop students' abilities in handling the relevant sources and materials of diplomatic and consular law. Students should acquire evaluative skills which will be developed through practice of analysing academic opinion and materials in these fields and assessing their value, and participating in group seminar discussion. Students will also be able to acquire problem-solving techniques on issues in the areas studied.
Oral communication is developed through the use of presentations delivered by members of the seminar group at appropriate junctures, research skills are developed through the research paper and through work for each seminar.
|
Reading List
There is no single text which covers the whole breadth of the course. However, reference will frequently be made to the following key texts:
Eileen Denza, Diplomatic Law: Commentary on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 3rd ed (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 2008).
Lee / Quigley, Consular Law and Practice, (1990)
Roberts, Ivor, Satow's Diplomatic Practice, 6th ed (Oxford 2009)
All of these texts are available in the law library. As new editions become available, requests will be made to the library to acquire these.
Additional reading lists will be published for the individual seminars. They will mainly contain articles which are available on Westlaw International or Hein Online, to which Edinburgh University has access.
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Transferable skills gained through the course 'Diplomatic Law' are expected to include familiarity with the main instruments on diplomatic and consular relations and the bases of immunity attaching to the relevant agents (which will be of importance to students from political and social sciences as well as international relations). Students will also acquire knowledge of aspects of regional diplomacy, which is again expected to benefit these disciplines in particular. |
| Special Arrangements |
n/a |
| Study Abroad |
n/a |
| Keywords | Diplomacy, International Law, Consuls, Diplomats, Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Vienna |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Paul Behrens
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Ginny Spencer
Tel: (0131 6)51 4246
Email: |
|
|
University Homepage