Consular Law and Practice

First published in 1961, Consular Law and Practice is a classic work of great interest and practical use to diplomats, consuls, and international lawyers.When persons are out of their home country, consuls are their link with home and a source of assistance. The roles of consuls are many and varied. Consuls promote commerce between the home country and the host country and assist businesspeople in making contacts and in completing commercial transactions. Consuls also handle problems that arise for seafarers and merchant shipping vessels of the home country when they are in port in the host country. When a home country citizen dies while in thehost country, consuls may facilitate burial or shipment of the remains home, or deal with the person's estate. Consuls assist individuals arrested on a criminal charge in the host state by visiting them in jail, advising them about the legal system of the host state, and helping to find them alawyer. If the person is convicted, consuls visit them in prison and may help to secure a transfer to a prison in the home country. This fully updated third edition explains consular privileges and immunities and how consular functions are handled in time of peace and war, when the receiving state experiences civil war, or when the sending and receiving states break off diplomatic or consular relations. It provides valuable background by describing how consular law developed historically and how it became solidified in 1963 in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. It explores the many bilateral consular treatieswhich supplement the Vienna Convention, examines the traditional and changing role of consuls, explains diplomatic privileges and immunities, and discusses the function of consuls as ambassadors in cultural and scientific exchange.

In eighteen years since Lee's Second Edition there has been a major shift in consular functions- access to and protection of nationals in detention assuming much greater importance politically as well as legally. The Third Edition well reflects this, with thorough analysis of recent cases before the International Court and with the US Supreme Court, as well as recent conventions and changes in practice since the end of the Cold War. An excellent handbook for the lawyer and for career and honorary consuls struggling with the demands of huge numbers of travellers in foreign lands., Review from previous edition ...a work of considerable academic standing... extensively researched, and much attention has been paid to detail. It provides insight into consular activity and demonstrates the relationship between convention and customary international law. The text will serve as an invaluable reference tool to those engaged in consular activity, as well as serving the needs of those with either a developed or passing interest in what is one of the oldest forms of international activity..., ...a welcome addition to the literature on this subject which, although very important in the practical world, is all too rarely the subject of learned writing ... an important work of reference on this vital area of international law..., ...successfully touches on virtually every aspect of consular law and practice...an interesting overview of the field and a useful reference work for all whose work concerns either services to nationals abroad or commercial dealings with consular officials...

Dr. Luke T. Lee, J.D., Ph.D. is an international consultant on consular law and human rights. He has worked for the U.S. State Department and is a Member of rthe UN Group of Governmental Experts on International Co-operation to Avert New Flows of Refugees and a consultant for the WHO, UNESCO, and UNFPA/UNDP.John Quigley is President's Club Professor in Law at the Ohio State University.