International agreements in the system of sources of legal regulation consular activities

Abstract

Consular offices and their employees in the performance of consular functions are guided by the legislation of Ukraine, the legislation of the host country, international treaties of Ukraine and international customs, which are a system of sources of legal regulation of consular activities. International multilateral and bilateral treaties play an important role in the regulation of consular activities, as they form the basis of consular law as a branch of public international law.
 Modern consular law is a convention law. Its important sources include the Caracas Convention on Consular Functions of 1911, the Havana Convention on Consular Officials of 1928, the European Convention on Consular Functions of 1967, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of April 24, 1963, which entered into force on March 18, 1967. and has a universal character, as well as bilateral consular conventions (and other types of agreements in this area).
 Based on the analysis of the practice of concluding international agreements in the field of consular activities in Ukraine, the article identifies the types of such agreements and the standard structure and content of the consular convention.
 It is concluded that international treaties are an important international legal instrument in the field of initiating and implementing consular relations between states, play a systemic role in the system of sources of legal regulation of consular activities. Based on international customs, they, in turn, determine the content of national legislation of Ukraine and host countries in the field of consular relations.
 The concluded international bilateral agreements of Ukraine need to be streamlined and systematized. A systematic and unified approach also requires further conclusion of such agreements with countries with which consular relations have not yet been established (not regulated).