ABSTRACT
As indicated above, the consular role86 has increased considerably in the last 50 years. Consuls act on behalf of the sending state in the discharge of administrative functions; they are not confined to the capital and are to be found in substantial provincial cities. Their privileges and immunities are less extensive than the diplomat and this is a reflection of their different role. However, this is complicated by the modern tendency of some states to merge their diplomatic and consular functions. Consuls traditionally have an administrative role in respect of the nationals of the sending state in the receiving state such as keeping a register of nationals, recording births, witnessing documents, performing marriages87 and providing for the taking of evidence. The importance of the consular role in the modern world was indicated by the International Court of Justice in the Hostages case88 where it observed that:
The normal distinction between a consul and a diplomat is that the latter is concerned with political relations with the receiving state. The consul may have dealings with local government institutions but is subordinate to the local diplomatic envoy. Although it has been accepted since the 18th century90 that the privileges of the consul should be inferior to those of the diplomat the position has been complicated in the last quarter of a century by the tendency of some states to merge their diplomatic and consular functions. In principle the individual who acts simultaneously as diplomat and consul is entitled to the privileges of the former.
