User:Ttocserp/Canstatt affair
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The Canstatt affair (Spanish: cuestión Canstatt) was an international dispute about the right of a State to protect its nationals if detained in another State. It concerned the fate of one Canstatt, who was arrested in Paraguay for treason and claimed British nationality. He was refused access to the British consul, held incommunicado for a year, and sentenced to death. The United Kingdom resorted to reprisals, in effect blockading a Paraguayan warship in the neutral port of Buenos Aires until Canstatt was released.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Camino_de_la_Trinid%C3%A1.png/640px-Camino_de_la_Trinid%C3%A1.png)
The dispute lasted from 1859 to 1862, eventually being settled by diplomacy. Canstatt received compensation, and there were mutual apologies between the two countries.
The case raised issues that were not adequately addressed by the international law and practice of the era: such as the right of an arrested person to consular access; conflicting definitions of nationality; dual citizenship; equality between States; and minimum judicial standards.