Diplomatic and Consular Premises

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There is a way in which the UK could get Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy. This is to break diplomatic relations with Ecuador, with the consequence that Ecuador would have to withdraw from the premises in London. This is a high price to pay for seeking to get Assange but this is precisely what the UK government did to end the stand off at the Libyan Embassy in 1984. Suggesting that receiving States may kick diplomatic missions out of their buildings is probably an even higher price as it introduces uncertainty into the principle of inviolability of dplomatic premises.

The UK’s Act, 1987
Section 1 of the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act of 1987 Act phone number library sets up a scheme under which the UK Foreign Secretary has to give consent for land to be used as diplomatic premises. More importantly for our purposes, Section 1(3) of the Act provides that land is no longer to be regarded as a State’s diplomatic premises where the Foreign Secretary withdraws his consent. The implication is that such land or such premises will lose its inviolability under international law with the effect that UK agents are free to enter it. Section 1(4) of the Act does say that “shall only give or withdraw consent or withdraw acceptance if he is satisfied that to do so is permissible under international law.”