For the head of a consular post to take office, he must obtain the exequatur of the receiving State.
The Latin word exequātur , which can be translated as “execute” , is a conjugation of the verb exsĕqui (that is, “execute” ). The Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), in its dictionary , includes the notion of exequatur , which can also be used as execuátur .
The first meaning mentioned by the RAE refers to the authorization granted by a head of state to foreign officials so that, within the national territory, they can carry out those activities that correspond to their positions .
Exequatur in diplomacy
The operation of the exequatur is detailed in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations , which came into force in 1967 . In Article 12 , it is specified that the exercise of the functions of the head of a consular post must be admitted by an exequatur granted by the receiving State .
Before moving forward, it is important to mention that a consular agency, a vice-consulate or a consulate general is called a consular office . The head of said office, in turn, is the individual who has responsibility for its management.
No consular chief can begin his duties without obtaining the exequatur. A State , on the other hand, may refuse to grant exequatur without being obliged to explain the reasons.
Provisional authorization and end of functions
It is important to clarify that a head of a consular office can be admitted provisionally until the exequatur is issued. The receiving State, when its legislation provides for it, may also grant an exequatur to an official who is not the head of the office.
It should be noted, meanwhile, that the revocation of the exequatur ends the functions of the person who had obtained it.
An exequatur implies, in a certain country, the recognition of a ruling issued by a foreign court.
Exequatur as recognition of a sentence
Another use of the concept of exequatur refers to the recognition that, in one nation , a sentence that was issued by a court in another country is made. What the exequatur does, in this framework, is to approve the ruling in question.
The procedure requires the review of possible treaties, the principle of reciprocity and the compatibility of the ruling with local legislation . The holder of an exequatur may be the person in whose favor the judgment was issued or someone for whom a foreign judgment causes harm or prevents them from accessing a benefit, situations that can only be resolved with this process.
The exequatur, in short, allows a foreign judgment to become a local execution title. For this to be viable, as we already indicated, several issues must be considered, such as compatibility with State regulations .
Civil pass to a pontifical bull
The idea of exequatur, finally, can name the pass granted by a civil authority to the rescripts and bulls of the pope so that they may be observed within its territory. A pass, in this sense, is a license or permit.
It is necessary to emphasize that a pontifical bull is a document that deals with administrative issues, judicial issues, graces or privileges, issued by the Apostolic Chancellery . The rescripts , meanwhile, are decisions of the Supreme Pontiff that constitute a response to a request or the resolution of a query .
It was Charles I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire who, in 1539 , established the regium exequatur to be able to decide on the execution of papal provisions.