ABSTRACT
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) began life as a series of Draft Articles prepared by the International Law Commission. The final draft articles were tabled at the United Nations Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities in 1961 and the Convention is a result of that conference. It is generally recognised that the Convention is one of the most successful efforts undertaken to promote codification. Article 51 of the Vienna Convention provided that 22 ratifications were required to bring the Convention into force; these were speedily obtained and the Convention entered into force on 24 April 1964. It is also clear that the widespread pattern of acceptance of the Convention means that most of the provisions form part of customary international law. There has been a steady increase in the number of state parties. In January 1990 the figure stood at 152 and by January 1996 it had reached 174. The fundamental nature of the Convention and its important role in facilitating peaceful intercourse between states was stressed in the Iran case21 and it is clear that a considerable part of the Convention represents customary international law. The large number of state parties and the scope of the Convention means that most questions can be resolved by reference to its contents.
