Termination of Missions

Hits: 66

Termination of Missions

 

A diplomatic mission can be terminated in various ways.  The most common way is by recall by the accredited State. Termination of missions may be withdrawn by mutual agreement or through an act of foreign policy, such as prelude to war.  A letter of recall is handed to the Head of State or the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the envoy in turn receives a Lettre de Recreance acknowledging the recall. Another method is where the sending State notifies the receiving State that the mission’s function has come to an end.

Article 9 allows for recall at the request of the receiving State, and should such an event occur the receiving State is not obliged to provide reasons or any explanations for such a request. A more obvious scenario would be where the receiving State delivers passports to the mission and its staff when a war breaks out between the sending and receiving States. Furthermore, the receiving State may declare representatives persona non grata and thus no longer recognise them as members of the mission. Even if a mission is withdrawn and diplomatic relations have broken off between the countries, contacts between them are rarely ever terminated completely. In more serious cases, the head of mission and the majority of the staff depart, leaving a few people who will remain to protect the interests of their country. These members retain their personal privileges and immunities, enabling them to still communicate with their government and continue to function normally, except they may not fly their national flag or display their national emblem on the premises.

References and Works Cited

1. Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, (1961)
2. Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, (1963)

 

Thank You