Peaceful contacts between independent groups have always, since the start of human time, required the kind of representational activity which has come to be known as diplomacy. In its modern form – that is, throughout the last half-millennium or so – diplomacy has retained a broadly constant character and given rise to a burgeoning diplomatic profession. Like all professions, it has spawned its own terminology and categories; and inasmuch as its activity concerned relations between proud and jealous sovereigns, later replaced by no less proud and jealous sovereign states, diplomatic language has been finely honed and carries very precise meanings. It also bears the marks of having found expression in the languages of civilizations.

The saying that no nation is an island is true indeed. Nations necessarily must interact with others within the international system. Accordingly, the development of socio-political and economic relations among nations are also necessitated the emergence of appropriate laws and regulations to guide the actions of representatives of these nations and the host states. This research work has, therefore, assessed diplomatic and consular practice not only in antiquity but also in contemporary perspectives.

The objectives of this research work are to assess the role of diplomatic and consular practice in contemporary international law; to examine the effectiveness of the law governing diplomatic and consular practice in contemporary times; to examine privileges and immunities and how these increase the effectiveness of diplomats; to identify actors on the diplomatic stage and their scope of production; to examine causes and cases of abuse of privileges and immunities; and to determine and address the conundrums that exist in the law governing diplomatic and consular practice today. It has made use of secondary sources of data which include the published texts for the historical and theoretical analysis of this research work. It has examined the effectiveness of the law governing diplomatic and consular practice particularly in contemporary times.

During the last half-century, however, the day-to-day language of diplomacy has been enormously augmented as a result of the quantitative revolution which the activity has undergone. The agenda of diplomacy has widened hugely, as almost everything (it seems) has become a legitimate subject of international discussion. The economic connections of states, in particular, have become much more extensive and elaborate. The development of common bilateral and multilateral standards in a variety of fields has meant that the legal framework within which international relations take place has greatly expanded, and the lengthened jurisdictional reach of states, made possible by technological advance, has also added markedly to the growth of international law.

This research work has succeeded in identifying the existing gaps in diplomatic and consular law and has attempted to fill them.