Consular offices and their types

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Different states, along with diplomatic ones, create consular offices on each other's territories, thus exchanging missions. Usually such relations are the result of diplomacy, it is she who presumes agreement to them. Nevertheless, consular offices are opened on the territory of states that do not maintain diplomatic relations with each other, moreover, even breaking them does not lead to a break in consular relations. Diplomatic missions are in charge of everything that may affect the interests and rights of the sending state, and this applies throughout the territory of the host country. And consular offices have special competences only in the district designated for them, and communicate on their business with the consular only with the authorities of a separate territory.

Vienna Convention

In 1963 the Vienna Convention in article 5outlined the main functions of consular offices. This is, first of all, the protection and protection in the host country of the rights and interests of all citizens of their own state - both individuals and legal entities. This is the provision of assistance and assistance to compatriots, ensuring representation in judicial and any other state organizations.

Consular offices promote the development of scientific, cultural, economic and trade ties between the two countries, as well as develop friendly relations between them. Also, employees of consulates collect by all possible legal means information about the events and conditions of the economic, commercial, scientific and cultural life of the host country, after which they report this to their own government, and also provide such information to interested parties.

Activities

The functions of consular offices include the issuance of passports, visas, as well as the provision of notary services and registration of acts of civil status. There are other similar obligations to provide compatriots in the host country with everything necessary. In addition, diplomatic missions and consular offices perform many administrative functions. With their help, non-judicial and judicial documents are transferred, they execute court orders in accordance with applicable international agreements and in accordance with all the rules of the host country.

Diplomatic missions and consular offices provide assistance to ships and aircraft of their own state, as well as their crew. Performed and many othersfunctions assigned to consulates by the sending state, if they are not prohibited by the rules and laws of the host country. If there are no diplomatic relations with this state, the head of the consular office can perform quite extensive diplomatic functions.

Order of establishment

Consular offices and everything related to their location, number and class, determine the agreement between the two countries. Unlike a diplomatic representation, the consulate does not work on a national scale, it is given the limits of a certain consular district. But, as a rule, the work of the consulate covers the territory of several administrative units. Types of consular offices are also strictly separated. This is a general consulate, just a consulate, a vice-consulate and a consular agency. It should be noted that in terms of the nature of the work and in their functions, they differ quite a bit from each other. In large industrial cities and large ports, a consulate general is usually opened, that is, where the own state has special interests. A simple consulate is established in any city of smaller size and importance. The Consul General may supervise all other consuls of his country in the host state or in its separate part.

Officials of consular offices are also defined in Article 9 of the same Vienna Convention. According to the names of the consulates, the heads of these institutions are divided into four classes. In ascending order: consular agent, viceconsul, consul, consul general. At the Consulate General, the Consul General may have several vice-consuls, consuls and consular attachés as deputies and assistants. In a simple consulate, in the same way, in addition to its head, there are usually several more employees who are called vice-consuls or consular attachés. In addition to officials of the consular institution of the Russian Federation, other employees work there - administrative and technical personnel and service personnel. In addition to individual consular offices, there are departments in the structure of the diplomatic mission that perform consular functions. This means that there are "separate" and "separate" consuls.

Honorary Consul

There are also consuls who are not on staff. These are honorary consuls, whose powers are significantly limited compared to regular officials. Honorary consuls are usually chosen from their own citizens or citizens of the host country. They are always well known in the area, often successful lawyers, entrepreneurs or public figures. They are not in the civil service, they usually perform consular duties on a voluntary basis and at the same time run their own business.

They are also not en titled to wages, but they receive maintenance through consular fees that are charged for services. In the last few decades, the institution of honorary consuls has become quite widespread throughout the world. In Denmark, Finland, Sweden, for example, their number is many times higher than the number of regular ones. Until 1976, there were no foreign honorary consuls in our country, and ours were not appointed abroad either. Now they are everywhere, and their number is constantly increasing. In 1998, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs even issued an Order and a special Regulation on Honorary Consuls of the Russian Federation.

Head and his assistants

The head of a consular office is appointed by his own state, and is allowed to perform his duties by the host country. The first special document he receives is a consular patent. There, his position, category and class, district and location of the consulate where he will work are certified. This patent is sent to the government of the host country, where it is considered and given (or not) permission, which is called an exequatur. It is usually issued as a separate document, but there are cases when a competent person imposes a permissive inscription on the consular patent itself. If a State refuses to grant an exequatur, it is not required to disclose the reasons for this refusal to the sending State.

The rest of the officials in the consulate are freely appointed to their respective positions, however, the sending state must necessarily inform the host country of each such appointment. Moreover, this must be done in advance, reporting the name, surname, class, category of each appointed person. And the host state has the rightdeclare that person unacceptable, and he must do so before the appointed person appears in the country and takes up his duties. However, even if the host state is late with the announcement, the represented country will still cancel the appointment.

Consular offices of the Russian Federation

State bodies that carry out foreign relations of our country within the corresponding consular district in the host state on behalf of the Russian Federation are consular offices that are part of the Russian Foreign Ministry and are subordinate to the head of the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation. On the territory of the Russian Federation, their functions are quite numerous. This is not limited to placing on consular service, issuing passports, legalizing documents and claiming them. Here invitations are issued, decisions are made regarding the issuance of a Russian visa, all kinds of consulting and information services are provided. It also registers children adopted by foreign citizens, establishes the procedure for the return of funds that were paid for the state duty by mistake.

Establishment of consular missions is not connected by its activities with the political aspects of international relations. This is the prerogative of diplomatic missions. And consular offices serve as special bodies of external relations and are created only for the development and maintenance of legal, economic and similar ties. Theoretically and practically, the terms "consular office" and"consular representation" are absolutely legitimate and practically equivalent. The difference is very small: institutions are divided into consular sections in diplomatic missions and individual institutions. Their functions are the same.

Privileges

Immunities of consular offices - a set of special benefits, rights and benefits provided to official personnel in the amount that is agreed upon by the two countries and complies with the usual norms of international law, as well as the laws of the host country. From the moment the institution of the consulate began to exist, consuls enjoy a special status, and their privileges and immunities are constantly expanding. Nevertheless, they are significantly inferior to the privileges and immunities of diplomats both in quantity and quality. The fact is that consuls' benefits are mainly functional in nature, that is, privileges are not granted every minute, but only when performing actions as officials and clearly within the framework of official duties. But in practice, in a number of states there is a tendency for the privileges and immunities of officials of consulates and diplomatic missions to coincide.

Immunities and privileges can be divided into institutional and personal. The first includes the inviolability of consular premises, unless natural disasters occur there, for example, a fire. The official archives, correspondence, property and vehicles belonging to the consulate are also inviolable. institutions are exempt fromsearches, requisitions and other enforcement actions are exempt from customs duties and taxes. Institutions can freely communicate with the government, consulates and diplomatic missions of their own state, have the right to fly a flag and attach a coat of arms to the wall of the building, as well as on cars belonging to the consulate.

Personal immunities

The personal privileges and immunities of officials include personal integrity, freedom from pre-trial detention or arrest, unless a particularly serious crime has been committed. Consular officers may be imprisoned or subject to other forms of restraint of liberty only in the execution of a judgment that has entered into legal force. Absolutely all employees of a consular post are exempt from the administrative and judicial jurisdiction of the host country if they are in the performance of consular functions. The private actions of these same persons may entail the application of the relevant laws of the host State.

A consular officer may be called as a witness in administrative and judicial matters, but is not required to testify related to matters related to his activities, nor is he required to provide correspondence related to these matters. Officials and family members, which does not only apply to service personnel, are exempt from taxes and duties even on items intended for personal use. The immunities and privileges of consulates depend on bilateralconventions. Thus, guarantees are created for the normal fulfillment of duties, which contributes to the strengthening of mutually beneficial cooperation between countries.

Consular conventions

The activities of consular offices are always based on the legal basis, which is domestic legislation, international agreements. A multilateral agreement that regulates the consular service of different countries is the Vienna Convention, ratified by the USSR in 1989. In recent decades, the interstate practice of concluding bilateral conventions has been developing more and more, which regulates consular relations between two contracting countries.

The Russian Federation currently has consular conventions with more than 70 countries. In addition, almost all states have developed their own consular charters or other regulations that are specifically aimed at resolving issues regarding these services. The first charter appeared in Russia in 1893 and was valid until 1917. The USSR adopted such a charter twice - in 1926 and in 1976. The charter of 1976 is currently in force.

In Russia

There are a lot of diplomatic missions and consulates of foreign states in the Russian Federation. There are 145 of them represented in Moscow, including not all recognized states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. There are 56 consular and diplomatic missions in St. Petersburg, and 131 more such institutions in other cities of the country. For example, inThere are 26 of them in Yekaterinburg, and 20 in Vladivostok. Slightly fewer of them are in Kaliningrad - eleven, in Kazan - nine, in Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod - eight each, in Rostov-on-Don - seven. Krasnodar, Irkutsk, Astrakhan, Sochi, Murmansk, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Novorossiysk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Samara, Pskov, Tyumen, Smolensk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Ufa, Volgograd, Arkhangelsk, Lipetsk, Kyzyl, Nakhodka, Magnitogorsk, Petrozavodsk, Novy Urengoy, Ulan-Ude, Sovetsk, Elista, Cherepovets - all these cities and the Moscow region have consulates of different countries on their territory.

Most of all, fraternal Belarus is interested in our country, it opened fourteen of its representative offices on the territory of the Russian Federation. In second place is Italy, with eight of its consulates operating in our cities. The third step in Slovakia is seven representations. South Korea, China, France, Mongolia and Germany each have five consulates in Russian cities, while Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Hungary each have four. Japan, Turkey, Ukraine, Poland, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Spain, Great Britain have three representative offices in our territories, and the Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland, USA, Slovenia, Norway, Latvia, North Korea, Cyprus, Iran, Greece, Vietnam, Austria have opened diplomatic and consular offices in our two cities. And twenty-five more countries - only in Moscow.