Letter of credence

A letter of credence (French: Lettre de créance) is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to another, asking them to give credence (French: créance) to the ambassador's claim of speaking for their country. The letter is presented personally by the ambassador-designate to the receiving head of state in a formal ceremony, marking the beginning of the ambassadorship.

Letter of credence for the Czechoslovak Ambassador to Lithuania (1992), written in the traditional French and signed by President Václav Havel

Letters of credence are traditionally written in French, the lingua franca of diplomacy.^[1] However, they may also be written in the official language of the sending state.^[2][3]

Language of letters

Letters of credence between two monarchs of equal rank will typically begin with the salutation "Sir My Brother" (or "Madame My Sister", in the case of a female monarch) and close with the valediction "Your Good Brother" (or Sister, in the case of a female monarch).

Presentation of credentials

British diplomat Sir Charles Stuart presenting his credentials to Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, who is flanked by his wife Maria Leopoldina, their daughter Maria da Glória (later Queen Maria II of Portugal), and other dignitaries (allegory), c. 1825

The Ambassador of Yugoslavia, Zdravko Pečar, presenting his letter of credence to the Head of state of Ghana, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, in 1974.

Ambassador Eugène-Richard Gasana of Rwanda presents his credentials to Russian President Vladimir Putin, attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (2007).

Upon arrival at their post, the ambassador-designate meets with the foreign minister to arrange for an audience with the head of state.^[4] They bring both a sealed original and an unsealed copy of his credentials. The unsealed copy is given to the foreign minister upon arrival, and the original is presented personally to the head of state in a formal ceremony.^[5]: 550 Ambassadors do not begin their duties until their credentials are accepted, and their precedence within the diplomatic corps is determined by the date on which the credentials were presented.^[6] They are, however, entitled to diplomatic immunity as soon as they enter the country.^{[7]: 32 [8]: 261}

The ambassador-designate travels to the presentation ceremony in an official vehicle provided by the receiving state, accompanied by a military escort. In parliamentary systems, the head of state or viceroy acts according to legally-binding advice from the government. The foreign minister will attend (be present with) the head of state at the actual ceremony, to symbolize the fact that the credentials are being accepted on the basis of government advice.^[9] The ambassador-designate uses both hands to present their credentials to the head of state.^[10]

Many governments hold presentation ceremonies with elements that are usually accorded to heads of state and government, like military honors.

While credential ceremonies are among the most formal events in diplomacy, governed by strict protocols and detailed guidelines, variations in the nature of these ceremonies can still be observed among diplomats from different countries. Despite their scripted and calculated nature, these ceremonies offer state representatives a subtle yet significant space for signaling— positive or negative — establishing contact, or conveying messages. ^[11]

Chargé-level relations

When two countries maintain relations at the chargé d'affaires level, the letter of credence will be written by the foreign minister of the sending state and addressed to the foreign minister of the receiving state. The chargé will present their credentials to the foreign minister.^[12] The head of state is neither addressed nor presented with the credentials, symbolizing the lower level of diplomatic relations between the countries. The chargé is not entitled to a military escort or an official car.

Commonwealth

High commissioners from Commonwealth nations do not present letters of credence. When two Commonwealth realms share the same monarch as head of state, the prime minister of the sending state writes an informal letter of introduction to the prime minister of the receiving state.^[13] When a Commonwealth nation is a republic or has its own separate monarch, high commissioners are dispatched and received with letters of commission, which are written by one head of state and presented to another head of state.^[14][15] Both forms of letters were standardized in 1950–1951 after India became a republic, replacing a chaotic system where some high commissioners carried letters from the prime minister, some carried letters from the minister of external relations, and others carried no letters at all.^[16]

References

1. "10th Anniversary of Poland's Accession to the EU". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland. 8 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2016. Letters of Credence (translated from French) of Jan Kułakowski, 26 February 1990 (AMFA).
2. Ahren, Raphael (October 17, 2012). "New Egyptian ambassador brings Israel 'message of peace'". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on September 10, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
3. "Diplomatic Credential Presented by the Great Qing Empire". National Palace Museum. Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
4. "2 FAM 330 Ceremonies and Protocol Upon Assignment as Chief of Mission" (PDF). U.S. Department of State. February 28, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2019. The new chief of mission requests, through the officer who has been acting as chargé d'affaires ad interim, an informal conference with the minister of foreign affairs or such other appropriate officer of the government in order to arrange to be received by the chief of state.
5. Oppenheim, Lassa (1905). International Law: A Treatise. Vol. I.
6. "Diplomatic List: Order of Precedence and Date of Presentation of Credentials". Office of the Chief of Protocol, U.S. Department of State. 11 March 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
7. Dopagne, Frédéric; Hay, Emily; Theeuwes, Bertold F. (2 June 2014). Theeuwes, Bertold F. (ed.). Diplomatic Law in Belgium. Maklu. ISBN 9789046606865.
8. Satow, Ernest Mason (2017). Satow's Diplomatic Practice (7th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198739104.
9. "Presentation of Credentials". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2016. The President of the Republic invites the Ambassador in his Office, for an audience. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Director of the Office of the President, also attend.
10. "Procedure for Presenting the Letters of Credence by the Head of Diplomatic Mission in Montenegro". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (Montenegro). Archived from the original on 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2016-03-20. Then he/she approaches the President of Montenegro and formally (with both hands) presents to him the Letter of Credence and the Letter of Recall of his/her predecessor. The President of Montenegro formally accepts the letters and shakes hands with the Head of Diplomatic Mission.
11. Roni Berkowitz, Gadi Heimann, Zohar Kampf, Communicating through Protocols: The Case of Diplomatic Credential Ceremonies, International Political Sociology, Volume 18, Issue 2, June 2024, olae013, https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olae013
12. U.S. Department of State (1897). Instructions to the Diplomatic Officers of the United States. Washington, DC. pp. 1–5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
13. Alison Quentin-Baxter and Janet McLean, This Realm of New Zealand: The Sovereign, the Governor-General, the Crown, 2017
14. Berridge, G. R.; Lloyd, Lorna (2012). "Letter of introduction". The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Diplomacy (3rd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 229. ISBN 9780230302990.
15. Berridge, G. R.; Lloyd, Lorna (2012). "Letters of commission". The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Diplomacy (3rd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 230. ISBN 9780230302990.
16. Lloyd, Lorna (2007). Diplomacy with a Difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880-2006. Martinus Nijhoff. pp. 138–140. ISBN 9789047420590.