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must recognize a corresponding right, on the part of other states, to a similar use in all communications addressed to itself. Until the beginning of the eighteenth century Latin was in general use as a convenient neutral language. The treaties of Nimeguen, Ryswick, and Utrecht, and the Quadruple Alliance, concluded at London in 1788,' were drawn up in Latin. The official acts of the Holy See are still written in that language. French, however, has gradually displaced Latin as the diplomatic language, and, to a great extent, still retains that character. The treaties of Vienna, in 1815, those of 1833, concerning the separation of Belgium from Holland, and the treaty of Paris, in 1856, were drawn up in French."

The Functions of Ambassadors, how Suspended and Terminated. The functions of an ambassador, and consequently his official character, may be suspended, and may, or may not, be terminated :

(a.) As a result of some difference or misunderstanding between the two powers, not resulting in war.

(b.) Upon the occurrence of important political events, which render the continuance of his mission improbable; as a sudden or violent change in the constitution or form of government, in either state. Such a suspension continues until it is removed, by proper authority, in the state in which it originated.' A mission may be terminated :

(a.) By the death, or by the voluntary or constrained abdication of one or both sovereigns. This, however, only in case the ambassador represents the sovereign in his personal capacity.'

'Heffter, p. 433.

'II Phillimore, § 43; Heffter, § 235; II De Martens, § 179; I Ortolan, p. 101; Dana's Wheaton, § 158; Klüber, § 114.

According to the public law of the monarchies of Europe, the authority of ministers, and perhaps of international commissioners, expires on the death, deposition, or abdication of the prince; but not so as between the American republics, in which the executive power

is permanent and continuous, without regard to the governing person, and there is no interruption of the authority or renewal of the credentials of their public ministers on a change of President for whatever cause, provided such President continues to represent and exercise the appointing power of the government.-VII Opinions of AttorneyGeneral, p. 582; Heffter, p. 414; I Dig. Int. Law, § 87.

(b.) By the withdrawal, or cancellation, of his Letters of Credence and Full Power.

(c.) By his recall at the outbreak of war; or upon the completion of the duty which he was appointed to perform, the expiration of his term of office, or upon his promotion or removal to another sphere of duty.

(d.) By his removal, which may be voluntary, or forced by the government to which he is sent.

(e.) By death.'

When the functions of an ambassador cease for any cause his departure is attended by formalities similar to those observed at his reception. He requests an audience with the sovereign, at which he presents his letters of recall.. If normal relations exist between the two governments, formal expressions of regret are exchanged at this interview. In strictness. his functions and privileges cease when his letter of recall has been presented. Through courtesy, however, the immunities which he has enjoyed during his period of residence are extended to him until he passes the frontier of the state on his homeward journey.

The Privileges and Immunities of Ambassadors. To the successful and efficient performance of an ambassador's duties. the most complete personal independence and freedom of action are necessary. This immunity lies at the foundation of the system, and has been most jealously guarded and preserved since the beginning of modern diplomacy. It was recognized by the nations of antiquity, and is insisted upon as a necessary preliminary to intercourse with those Eastern countries whose standards of civilization differ so widely from our own.' It is illustrated by the swiftness with which nations

'II De Martens, p. 160; Bluntschli, §§ 227-240; Heffter, § 224; I Halleck, pp. 304-309; Klüber, §§ 227-230; ÏÏ Phillimore, §§ 237–242.

"The inviolability of a public minister or the protection to which he has a more sacred and particular claim than any other person, whether native or foreigner

-is not the only privilege he enjoys; the universal practice of nations allows him, moreover, an entire independence of the jurisdiction and authority of the state in which he resides. *** It is a matter of no small importance that he have no snares to apprehend→ that he is not liable to be diverted

have always resented offences against the persons of their ministers and diplomatic agents.'

The Principle or Fiction of Exterritoriality. From the fact of the inviolability of an ambassador's person, the fiction of exterritoriality has been deduced to account for and explain the various exemptions which public ministers enjoy in foreign countries. This principle has been defined, and its limitations have been pointed out, elsewhere.'

This immunity is both personal and territorial. Personal in that it involves an exemption of his person from the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the state in which he is resident; territorial in that his residence or hotel is presumed to be a part of the territory of the state which he represents. In strictness his privileges and immunities become effective when he enters

from his functions by any chicanery-that he have nothing to hope, nothing to fear, from the sovereign to whom he is sent. In order, therefore, to the success of his ministry, he must be independent of the sovereign authority and of the jurisdiction of the country, both in civil and criminal matters."-Vattel, liv. iv. chap. vii. § 92; Klüber, § 203; Wheaton, § 224; I Dig. Int. Law, §§ 92-94; Heffter, § 212.

The act of February 1, 1876 (19 Stat. at Large, p. 2), contains the requirements that, in the_several provisions of the Revised Statutes relating to the privileges and immunities of ambassadors and public ministers, the word "minister" shall be understood to mean the person invested with, and exercising, the principal diplomatic functions. The word "consul" shall be understood to mean any person invested by the United States with, and exercising, the functions of consul-general, vice consul - general, consul, or viceconsul.

'An affront to an ambassador is just cause for national displeasure,

and, if afforded by an individual citizen, satisfaction is demandable of his action. It is usual for nations to complain of insults to their ambassadors, and to require the parties to be brought to punishment.-Spanish minister's case, I Opinions of Attorney-General, p. 71, Lee (1797). An ambassador or other representative of one nation residing in another is entitled to be treated with respect, and especially ought not to be libelled by any of the citizens. If he commits any offence, it belongs, in our country, to the President to take notice of it, and not to any individual citizen.-Ibid. Any malicious publication tending to render another ridiculous, or to expose him to public contempt and hatred, is a libel; and in the case of a foreign public minister the municipal law is strengthened by the law of nations, which secures the minister a peculiar protection, not only from violence but also from insult.-Case of British minister, I Ibid. p. 52, Bradford (1794).

'See pp. 74-99..

upon the performance of his diplomatic duties. It is usual, however, to recognize them as existing so soon as he enters the territory of the state to which he is accredited. The exemption which an ambassador enjoys extends to his family, to the secretaries and other attachés and employees of the legation, and to his domestic servants. Some question has arisen as to the precise extent of this immunity in the case of servants, especially when they are natives of the country in which the minister is resident.' Unquestionably any privilege which a servant may have "is not the privilege of the servant himself, but of the ambassador, and is based on the ground that the arrest of the servant might interfere with the comfort or state of the ambassador."

'Dana's Wheaton, §§ 224-243, notes 128-130.

'II Phillimore, p. 227. The laws of the United States which are intended to secure the privileges and immunities of ambassadors and public ministers will be found in the following sections of the Revised Statutes:

SEC. 4062. Every person who violates any safe-conduct or passport duly obtained and issued under authority of the United States, or who assaults, strikes, wounds, imprisons, or in any other manner offers violence to the person of a public minister, in violation of the law of nations, shall be impris oned for not more than three years, and fined, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 4063. Whenever any writ or process is sued out or prosecuted by any person in any court of the United States, or of a state, or by any judge or justice, whereby the person of any public minister of any foreign prince or state, authorized and received as such by the President, or any domestic or domestic servant of any such minister, is arrested or imprisoned, or his goods or chattels are distrained,

seized, or attached, such writ or process shall be deemed void.

SEC. 4064. Whenever any writ or process is sued out in violation of the preceding section, every person by whom the same is obtained or prosecuted, whether as party or as attorney or solicitor, and every officer concerned in executing it, shall be deemed a violator of the law of nations, and a disturber of the public repose, and shall be imprisoned for not more than three years, and fined at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 4065. The two preceding sections shall not apply to any case where the person against whom the process is issued is a citizen or inhabitant of the United States, in the service of a public minister, and the process is founded upon a debt contracted before he entered upon such service; nor shall the preceding section apply to any case where the person against whom the process is issued is a domestic servant of a public minister, unless the name of the servant has, before the issuing thereof, been registered in the Department of State, and transmitted by the Secretary of State to the marshal of the Dis

Immunity from Criminal Jurisdiction. As respects criminal jurisdiction, an ambassador is exempt from criminal prosecution, of every sort, during the entire period of his residence

trict of Columbia, who shall upon receipt thereof post the same in some public place in his office.

SEC. 4066. All persons shall have resort to the list of names so posted in the marshal's office, and may take copies without fee. - See also I Dig. Int. Law, §§ 92, 93; Foreign Relations of the United States, 1879, pp. 374, 375.

The laws of the United States which punish those who violate the privileges of a foreign minister are equally obligatory on the state courts as upon those of the United States, and it is equally the duty of each to quash the proceedings against any one having such privileges. Ex parte Cabrera, I Washington, p. 232. The injured party may seek his redress in either court against the aggressor, or he may prosecute under the twentysixth section of the law. — Ibid. The mode of redress for a person privileged from arrest when arrested is by motion to the court from which the process issued. Lyell vs. Goodwin, 4 McLean, 29. For injuries done by private persons to the representatives of foreign governments, the Government of the United States affords redress through its judicial tribunals. The Executive Department has no power to redress such injuries.-IX Opinions of AttorneyGeneral, p. 7. The certificate of the Secretary of State, dated subsequently to the assault and battery, is the best evidence to prove the diplomatic character of a person accredited as a minister by the Government of the United States.

- The United States vs. William Liddle, 2 Washington, 205. An indictment under the act of 1790

(I Stat. p. 118; R. S. § 4062), for offering violence to the person of a public minister is not a case "affecting ambassadors or other public ministers and consuls," within the second section of the third article of the Constitution.-United States vs. Ortega, 11 Wheaton, 467. Any malicious publication tending to render another ridiculous, or to expose him to public contempt and hatred, is a libel; and in the case of a foreign public minister the municipal law is strengthened by the law of nations, which secures the minister a peculiar protection, not only from violence but also from insult. - Case of British minister, I Opinions of Attorney-General, p. 52, Bradford (1794). An affront to an ambassador is just cause for national displeasure, and, if offered by an individual citizen, satisfaction is demandable of his nation. It is usual for nations to complain of insults to their ambassadors, and to require the parties to be brought to punishment. -I Opinions of Attorney-General, p. 71. An ambassador or other representative of one nation residing in another is entitled to be treated with respect, and especially ought not to be libelled by any of the citizens. If he commits any offence, it belongs, in our country, to the President to take notice of it, and not to any individual citizen. Ibid. The arrest (of servants of public ministers) is regulated by act of Congress; entering a public minister's house to serve an execution will either be absorbed in the arrest, as being necessarily associated with it, if that be found criminal, or, if an arrest be admissible, must be punished, if at all, under

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