- •Diplomatic handbook Seventh Edition
- •Longman London and New York
- •Contents
- •Chapter I
- •Introduction
- •International organisations: accreditation
- •In the absence of a full diplomatic
- •Orders of precedence
- •Precedence between heads of diplomatic
- •Individual precedence within a mission
- •Individual precedence inter se of
- •Precedence of heads of mission within the
- •Immunities
- •Inviolability and immunity of premises
- •Inviolability of records, documents,
- •Immunity from criminal jurisdiction
- •Immunity from civil and administrative
- •Inviolability of correspondence
- •Inviolability of property
- •Relating to the consular post
- •Facilities, personal privileges and immunities
- •The united nations purposes and principles
- •Purposes
- •Principles
- •The general assembly
- •The security council
- •The economic and social council
- •The trusteeship council
- •The international court of justice
- •The secretary-general and the secretariat
- •Intergovernmental agencies related
- •Food and agriculture organisation
- •International atomic energy agency
- •International civil aviation organisation
- •International fund for agricultural development
- •International labour organisation
- •International maritime organisation
- •International telecommunications union
- •The international monetary fund
- •The world bank
- •United nations development programme
- •Universal postal union
- •World health organisation
- •World intellectual property organisation
- •World meteorological organisation
- •Subsidiary organisations
- •International law commission
- •International research and training
- •Institute for the advancement of women
- •Other consultative bodies
- •United nations children’s emergency fund
- •United nations environment programme
- •United nations fund for population activities
- •United nations high commission for refugees
- •International
- •Arab league/the league of arab states
- •Asia-pacific economic cooperation
- •Bank for international settlements
- •Black sea economic cooperation
- •Caribbean regional organisations the association of caribbean states
- •Central american common market
- •Central european initiative
- •Common market for eastern and southern africa
- •The commonwealth
- •Council of europe
- •Economic cooperation organisation
- •European free trade association/ european economic area
- •Indian ocean association for regional cooperation
- •Islamic conference organisation
- •Maghreb arab union
- •North american free trade agreement
- •North atlantic treaty organisation
- •Organisation of african unity
- •Organisation of american states
- •South pacific regional organisations
- •Visegrád group
- •Western european union
- •World trade organisation
- •Chapter 9
- •International law and
- •Definition and general principles
- •Treaties and treaty-making general principles
- •Types of treaties
- •The process of treaty-making
- •The form and content of treaties
- •The validity of treaties
- •The termination of treaties
- •Diplomatic asylum
- •Voting quorums and majority requirements
- •All male/female seating plan: host/hostess and seven guests
- •Invitations
- •Introducing people
- •Visiting cards
- •International
- •Islamic festivals
- •1. The ozone layer
- •2. Global warming and the
- •3. Biodiversity
- •4. The preservation of forests
The commonwealth
The Commonwealth is an association of states all but two of which at one time formed part of the British Empire or were Protected States in treaty relations with the Crown. Intra-Commonwealth cooperation and consultation are maintained by institutional and personal contact in cultural and educational matters; and meetings of heads of governments or their representatives are held normally every two years for the exchange of views on matters of common concern. Aid and development are featured in the initiation of the Colombo Plan and in the Commonwealth Fellowships; and trade, in preferential tariff and quota arrangements, now mainly incorporated in the Lomé Convention. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth Secretariat and its Secretary-General are situated in London. The following states are full members of the Commonwealth: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria (suspended), Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Nauru and Tuvalu are Special Members. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association provides a focus for the mutual interests of the legislatures of the Commonwealth; those member states which fail to maintain the concept or practice of parliamentary government being suspended from membership of the Association.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT
STATES
The Commonwealth of Independent States - like the British Commonwealth and the French Community - seeks to develop an institutional structure within which its former component parts can continue to cooperate in those aspects of government that they consider to be to their advantage; and like other similar institutions, it is in a state of constant evolution, as the original economic interdependence decreases and the sense of national identity among those states that have seceded from the Soviet Union becomes stronger.
The CIS is based on the 1991 Minsk Agreement between Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. These former Republics of the Soviet Union, having concluded that the USSR 'had ceased to exist as a subject of international law and a geographical reality', declared that 'cooperation between the members of the Commonwealth would be carried out in accordance with the principle of equality through coordinating institutions'. Areas of cooperation were defined as foreign policy; forming and developing a united economic area and a common European and Eurasian market in the area of customs policy, transport and communications, the environment, migration and organised crime.
Other former Republics - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - acceded to the Declaration, and also signed the Agreement on Strategic Forces whereby they 'recognised the need for joint command of strategic forces and for maintaining unified control of nuclear weapons', and the Agreement on Armed Forces and Border Troops which formed the basis for subsequent bilateral peace-keeping arrangements. Proposals for the creation of a unified CIS military command were abandoned in favour of a military coordinating committee, and Russia has offered to assist in the defence of the borders of the Central Asian and Trans-Caucasian Republics if so requested. Other fields of cooperation include the creation of a CIS Bank, a Petroleum and Gas Council, moves towards free trade and an economic union, and a structure to regulate inter-state financial transactions together with an Economic Court.
The organisational structure is based on the Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of Governments and various consultative and coordinating bodies; and the Secretariat is in Minsk.