![]() The personal inviolability accorded to envoys, for example among the ancient Greek cities and among the states of ancient India, became of less importance with the rise of the Roman Empire and later of Byzantium – both of these intent on subjugation rather than co-existence. Until it was accepted – originally as a matter of religious scruple – that the herald or emissary could pass safely in order to negotiate terms of truce or agreements to settle quarrels, there could be no peaceful international relations or rules on questions of substance. Historical ContextĪmong all peoples who wished to engage with each other on a basis other than that of conquest and subjugation, it was practice from the earliest times that the person of the envoy or intermediary between them was sacrosanct. Its success is due not only to the excellence of the preparatory work by the International Law Commission and the negotiating skills of State representatives at the Conference, but also to the long stability of the basic rules of diplomatic law and to the effectiveness of reciprocity as a sanction against non-compliance. ![]() In terms of near-universal participation by sovereign States, the high degree of observance among States parties and the influence it has had on the international legal order, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations may claim to be the most successful of the instruments drawn up under the United Nations framework for codification and progressive development of international law.
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