Diplomatic Law in a New Millennium

The granting of diplomatic asylum to Julian Assange, the dangers faced by diplomats in troublespots around the world, WikiLeaks and the publication of thousands of embassy cable - situations like these place diplomatic agents and diplomatic law at the very centre of contemporary debate on current affairs.

Diplomatic Law in a New Millennium brings together 20 experts to provide insight into some of the most controversial and important matters which characterise modern diplomatic law. They include diplomatic asylum, the treatment (and rights) of domestic staff of diplomatic agents, the inviolability of correspondence, of the diplomatic bag and of the diplomatic mission, the immunity to be given to members of the diplomatic family, diplomatic duties (including the duty of non-interference), but also the rise of diplomatic actors which are not sent by States (including members of the EU diplomatic service). This book explores these matters in a critical, yet accessible manner, and is therefore an invaluable resource for practitioners, scholars and students with an interest in diplomatic relations. The authors of the book include some of the leading authorities on diplomatic law (including a delegate to the 1961 conference which codified modern diplomatic law) as well as serving and former members of the diplomatic corps.

Paul Behrens, Lecturer, University of Edinburgh

Dr Paul Behrens is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Law at the University of Edinburgh, where he has established the LLM course on Diplomatic Law and is also responsible for an LLM course on International Criminal Law. He has taught in the past at the University of Leicester and has been a Visiting Lecturer / Visiting Researcher at the universities of Uppsala (Sweden), Stockholm (Sweden), Kiel (Germany) and other universities.

Part I - Introduction
1. Diplomatic Law in a New Millennium, Paul Behrens
2. A former diplomat's reflections on the Vienna Convention, Brian Barder
3. In Praise of a Self-Contained Regime: Why the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations Remains Important Today, J Craig Barker
Part II - History
4. Views of a Delegate to the 1961 Vienna Conference, Nelson Iriniz Casas
5. On the Road to Vienna: The Role of the International Law Commission in the Codification of Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities, 1949-1958, Kai Bruns
Part III - Personal Immunity
6. The personal inviolability of diplomatic agents in emergency situations, Paul Behrens
7. The Privileges and Immunities of the Family of the Diplomatic Agent: the Current Scope of Article 37(1), Simonetta Stirling-Zanda
8. The inviolability of diplomatic agents in the context of employment, Lisa Rodgers
9. Private Domestic Staff: A risk group on the fringe of the convention, Wolfgang Spadinger
Part IV - Property Immunity
10. The Protection of Public Safety and Human Life vs the Inviolability of Mission Premises: A Dilemma faced by the Receiving State, Yinan Bao
11. Contemporary Developments Relating to the Inviolability of Mission Premises, Juan Falconi Puig
12. The Non-Customary Practice of Diplomatic Asylum, Peter Kovacs and Tamas Vince Adany
13. The Protection of Diplomatic Correspondence in the Digital Age: Time to Revise the Vienna Convention?, Patricio Grane Labat and Naomi Burke
14. The Diplomatic Duffle Disparity - A Third World Perspective, Sana Sud
Part V - Diplomatic Duties
15. Legal Duties of Diplomats Today, Sanderijn Duquet and Jan Wouters
16. The Duty of Non-Interference, Paul Behrens
Part VI - Beyond the VCDR
17. Intersections between Diplomatic Immunities and the Immunities of International Organisations, Alison Duxbury
18. The European Union and Diplomatic Law: An Emerging Actor in Twenty-First Century Diplomacy, Graham Butler
19. Skirting Officialdom: Sub-State Diplomats and the VCDR Lessons from Scotland and Wales, Francesca Dickson
Part VII - Concluding Thoughts
20. Diplomatic Law Today: Has the Vienna Convention met its expectations?, Paul Behrens