A Short Excursus into the Issue of Consular Law with an Emphasis on the National Legislation of the Czech Republic

Abstract

Consular law is a set of norms governing the establishment of consular relations and opening consular offices of another state. This is a branch of law that is not unambiguously classified, falling both under international law and national law. It is a highly consolidated, incorporated, and also a recently codified branch of public international law in which the international element undoubtedly dominates. Under the surface, however, one can find more or less highly developed national legislation (German consular law, Italian consular law) which is not a mere concession to international legal norms (especially the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations) but are often separate sets of norms, collected into other directly related, linked to or even closely related national legislation. Given the functions performed by the consular post and the organisational integration of consular authorities into the system of state bodies, it is subsequently possible to classify national consular law into the branch of administrative law.