Establishment of Diplomatic Relations

Subject(s):

Diplomatic immunity — Diplomatic missions — Diplomatic relations

This chapter analyses the Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which states that diplomatic relations, and of permanent diplomatic missions, takes place by mutual consent. It outlines the changes and development that led to the formation of the article. The International Law Commission traces the roots of the second article from a state’s right to legation, the right of sending a diplomatic mission to a foreign state. However, in order to determine whether an entity has the ‘right of legation’, it is necessary to determine whether or not it is a State. For most of the Parties of the Convention, the right to conduct diplomatic relations is generally regarded as flowing from recognition as a sovereign State. The chapter describes some instances where recognition plays an important factor in diplomacy, such as the status of Palestine and the Holy See.