Vienna Convention on Consular Relations

Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
Parties to the convention
  Parties
  Signatories
  Non-signatories
Drafted22 April 1963
Signed24 April 1963
LocationVienna
Effective19 March 1967
ConditionRatification by 22 states
Signatories48
Parties182 (as of November 2021)[1]
DepositaryUN Secretary-General (Convention and the two Protocols)[2]
Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Austria (Final Act)[2]
Citations596 U.N.T.S. 261; 23 U.S.T. 3227
LanguagesChinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish[2]
Full text
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations at Wikisource

The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations is an international treaty that defines a framework for consular relations between sovereign states. It codifies many consular practices that originated from state custom and various bilateral agreements between states.[3]

Consuls have traditionally been employed to represent the interests of states or their nationals at an embassy or consulate in another country. The Convention defines and articulates the functions, rights, and immunities accorded to consular officers and their offices, as well as the rights and duties of "receiving States" (where the consul is based) and "sending States" (the state the consul represents).

Adopted in 1963, and in force since 1967, the treaty has been ratified by 182 states.[1]

  1. ^ a b "Vienna Convention on Consular Relations". United Nations Treaty Collection.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference untreaty was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Michael John Garcia, "Vienna Convention on Consular Relations: Overview of U.S. Implementation and International Court of Justice (ICJ) Interpretation of Consular Notification Requirements", CRS Report for Congress (May 17, 2004), https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32390.pdf