Oxford University Press Diplomatic Law: Commentary on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

This book is a commentary on the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the universally-accepted framework for diplomacy between sovereign States. It is the second edition of a highly-respected work, first published in 1976, which was written with the benefit of the author's deep and practical understanding of the subject as a Legal Counsellor in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Denzas book is widely-recognized as the leading work of authority in the field. In this enlarged, rewritten and fully-updated edition, she places each provision of the Convention in its historical context. The negotiating background to the provisions is supplemented with a comprehensive commentary on the application of the Convention by the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, together with expanded coverage of the diplomatic practice and jurisprudence of other States. The book also includes a thorough examination of novel problems in the field, not least the abuse of diplomatic immunity, as exemplified in the mid-1980s by notorious cases such as the Libyan Peoples Bureau siege and the attempted kidnapping of Umaru Dikko, as well as terrorist violence and hostile demonstrations against embassies. This eagerly-awaited new edition provides an invaluable source of practical guidance for ministries of foreign affairs and diplomats in the field. It will be equally welcomed by practitioners and scholars of public international law as an indispensable source of reference and learning.