Are the embassies of foreign countries will be their sovereign territory?

Question

If a nation operates its embassy in a foreign soil , do they practice their laws of land inside their compound? Are they vested with such rights by any international treaty? Are they not bound by the laws of the host nation?

Answer 1

This is one of those areas where the popular perception may be more accurate than the technical definition.  While the premises of foreign missions may not be precisely the sovereign territory of the sending country, the practical effect of Vienna convention provisions giving the place special status is the same.  Mission premises (this includes consulates general and consulates as well as embassies) cannot be entered without permission, even by local law enforcement or firefighters responding to a fire within. And by "premises" is meant the entire parcel of land occupied by the mission, usually surrounded by some sort of wall or other demarcation.

For these reasons the status of a diplomatic mission is for practical purposes that of foreign sovereign territory in another state, but the fact that many of these premises are leased from the host government or a private landowner indicates that they are never in that category legally. When the property lease is up and the mission moves elsewhere, the protected status and foreign "control" of that place ceases immediately without any measures to "return" it to the host country.

Answer 2

Yes, they are.  The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 establishes that embassies are the sovereign territory of the country operating the embassy.  The embassy is not bound by the laws of the host country, and embassy staff are likewise protected from local prosecution.

Answer 3

an Embassy is on a foreign soil but not the building itself, yes they have their own laws and nobody can overstep within the soil of the embassy,

it is just as if you were to enter another country without a visa,

the Embassy rules within its area, and does not comply to host countries,

it is like a small country within another country,

A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organization (such as the United Nations) present in another state to represent the sending state/organization in the receiving state. In practice, a diplomatic mission usually denotes the permanent mission, namely the office of a country's diplomatic representatives in the capital city of another country.

Extraterritoriality



Nordic Embassies Berlin Under international law, diplomatic missions enjoy an extraterritorial status and thus, although remaining part of the host country's territory, # they are exempt from local law and in almost all respects treated as being part of the territory of the home country.# They are also only required to pay taxes equal to their respective countries' guidelines.

As the host country may not enter the representing country's embassy without permission, embassies are sometimes used by refugees escaping from either the host country or a third country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_...

Answer 4

Embassies are not the sovereign territory of the country that occupies the premises; they are business offices protected under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.  They do not have police or courts on the premises.

Here is the section of the Convention that sometimes confuses people into believing that embassies are somehow the soverign soil of the country they represent:

Article 22,

1.The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.

2.The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.

3.The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.

Since they are actually business offices rather than teeny little countries, there is no application of 'laws of the land.'  If an American employee violates US law (by, for example, selling visas) he or she can be ordered back to the US for prosecution, but can't be forced to go.  If a local employee does so, he is prosecuted locally, under whatever laws exist in the host country - unless we can trick him into going to the US, where he can be prosecuted under US law.

Answer 5

This is called the principle of "extraterritoriality."  It is only subject to revocation under extreme or emergency circumstances.