Proposal:Office=diplomatic
| The Feature Page for the approved proposal office=diplomatic is located at Tag:office=diplomatic |
| office=diplomatic (formerly Consulate) | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Approved (active) |
| Proposed by: | apm-wa |
| Tagging: | office=diplomatic |
| Applies to: | node/area |
| Definition: | Diplomatic, consular, or non-diplomatic representation of a foreign country or subnational government in a host country as defined by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, UN Charter, other multilateral agreement on diplomatic missions, or bilateral agreement. |
| Statistics: |
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| Rendered as: | Little flag |
| Draft started: | 2018-10-21 |
| RFC start: | 2018-10-21 |
| Vote start: | 2018-11-17 |
| Vote end: | 2018-12-01 |
Proposal
Current proposal: It is proposed to differentiate among diplomatic, consular, and other types of government-to-government liaison offices to improve the accuracy and correctness of information in the OSM database.
For Reference Only: Original proposal: It is proposed to establish formally the amenity=consulate tag, which is already in use sporadically, in order to differentiate consulates from embassies.
Note: This proposal pertains to government-operated missions only, and specifically excludes commercial firms providing assistance to visa applicants either under contract to a diplomatic or consular mission or independently.
Suggestions from Commenters
- To include an additional tag (e.g., service=*) indicating types of consular services (citizen services, non-immigrant visas, immigrant visas, notarials, apostiles) offered. This tag could also be used for embassies offering consular services.
- To specify in such a tag types of services, e.g.,
- service:citizen_services=yes
- service:immigrant_visas=yes
- service:non-immigrant_visas=yes
- This approach could be applied to avoid multiple values for the same key, and are required because keys must be unique in OSM.
- To use the tag diplomatic=* to specify the type of consulate (consulate general, consulate, consular agency, honorary consul).
Counterproposals
Please see the discussion page:
- Shift to amenity=diplomatic with additional tags (subtags) diplomatic=* to cover all types of diplomatic missions.
- Shift to office=diplomatic, diplomatic=* to indicate embassy, consulate, or representation, and ultimately deprecate the amenity=embassy tag.
- Elevation of diplomatic=* to primary tag status, and deprecating amenity=embassy, with values of diplomatic=[embassy, consulate, other].
- Introduction of a diplomatic:services:*=[yes/no] tag for visa- and citizen services. Categories are under discussion.
Rationale
Rationale for Expanded Proposal: Please see the discussion page for full details. In summary, discussion of the original proposal revealed a desire not to create a new primary tag, but to apply an existing primary tag that would be more accurate and meaningful than the overused amenity=*. A majority of comments seemed to settle on office=diplomatic as a suitable option, with the existing diplomatic=* tag receiving a finite set of three key values to define more accurately the type of a) diplomatic-, b) consular-, or c) liaison mission that fits under these rubrics.
Some comments objected to both "non-diplomatic" and "other" as key values for this additional tag; hence the proposal for a third category of "liaison". Concerns were expressed about potential loss of information; hence additional (secondary and tertiary) tags are proposed to ensure no loss of information, with the clear understanding that novice mappers would likely use only the primary office=diplomatic tag, leaving to more experienced mappers the task of adding secondary and tertiary tags. There were no objections to a comment suggesting a diplomatic:services:*=yes/no tag patterned after the fuel type tag used for gas stations.
Rationale for Original Proposal: Consulates are representations of foreign countries in a host country, but are not embassies. The differences between embassies and consulates are defined by international law.[1][2] Bilateral embassies are typically located in the host country's capital city, are headed by an ambassador (chief of diplomatic mission), and in the case of bilateral diplomatic missions (i.e., a mission representing a single country in another single country) they number one per bilateral relationship. Embassies to multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, NATO, or the World Trade Organization, usually called "missions", may or may not be in a capital city but are invariably headed by an ambassador or, absent an ambassador, a charge d'affaires.[3]
Consulates by contrast may be more numerous, and are located both in a host country's capital and in cities outside the capital. A consulate is headed by a consul. The United States, for example, has one embassy in Mexico City, but nine consulates located elsewhere in Mexico; it has one embassy in New Delhi, but four consulates elsewhere in India.
However, current OSM practice as laid out in the Tag:diplomatic=consulate and Tag:amenity=embassy entries in the OSM help wiki is to miscategorize consulates as embassies. The latter wiki entry states, "This tag is used for embassies, but also for ambassadors’ residences, consulates and other diplomatic facilities." The problems here are that by international law a consulate is not a diplomatic facility, consular officers are not diplomats, and diplomatic immunities with only rare exceptions defined by bilateral treaties are not extended in full to consulates and consular officials. They are different institutions both juridically and functionally.
Formally categorizing consulates as embassies is misleading, and leads to misunderstanding and confusion of the primary roles of consulates (protection of the lives and interests of nationals of the sending country, and issuance of visas) and of embassies (conduct of diplomatic relations as defined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations).
Examples
Embassy
Embassies (also known in the case of missions between members of the British Commonwealth as "high commissions", in the case of diplomatic missions sent by the Vatican as "nunciatures", and to multilateral or international organizations as "missions") are usually but not always found in the capital city of the receiving side. They are typically defined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) or another multilateral international agreement conferring diplomatic status that cites the VCDR. Some countries have multiple embassy offices (cultural and trade offices, for example) scattered around the capital city and in rare instances may even open a "branch embassy office" in another city that is not a consulate. The United States government has maintained such offices in Mostar and Banja Luka in Bosnia, for example, as well as (notoriously) in Benghazi, Libya. "Interest sections" are diplomatic missions between countries which do not recognize each other formally, as was the case for 50 years between the United States and Cuba. Examples include:
- Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C., United States;
- United Kingdom High Commission in New Delhi, India;
- Apostolic Nunciature in Ankara, Turkey;
- Argentinian Mission to the United Nations in New York, United States;
- German Mission to NATO, Brussels, Belgium;
- American Center (a cultural outreach center) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, which is located separately from the U.S. Embassy;
- Russian Federation Trade Representative in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, which is located separately from the Russian Embassy;
- Chinese Mission to the World Trade Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Where the ambassador's residence ("residence") is a historic or otherwise notable building, it may optionally be tagged using the proposed embassy=residence additional (secondary) tag.
- Spaso House, the U.S. ambassador's residence in Moscow, Russia
Consulate
Consulates are typically found in two places: in a capital city, in which cases they are often housed within embassy premises, and in other satellite locations in the host country. Consulates are defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). Examples include:
- The Consulate of Sweden in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States;
- The Russian Consulate General in Seattle, Washington, United States;
- The American Consulate General in Moscow, Russia, which is located inside the U.S. Embassy compound;
- The American Consular Agency in Cancun, Mexico;
- The Afghanistan Consulate General in Mary, Turkmenistan;
- The Netherlands Honorary Consulate in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada;
- The Russian Consular Office in Turkmenbashy, Turkmenistan.
Liaison Office
Liaison offices in this proposal include government-to-government offices lacking either diplomatic or consular status under the VCDR or VCCR, or other multilateral agreement conferring diplomatic or consular status. In some cases such missions may enjoy diplomatic status by virtue of a bilateral agreement independently of the applicability of the VCDR or VCCR. This category explicitly includes subnational government offices abroad. Examples include:
- State of Virginia Office in New Delhi, India;
- American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, and Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, Washington, D.C.;[4]
- the former U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing, China, which operated as a pseudo-embassy before full diplomatic relations were established;
- Taliban Office in Doha, Qatar.
Tagging
Current Proposal:
- establish formally the office=diplomatic primary tag/key value combination, with the following additional (secondary and tertiary) tags:
- diplomatic=* with key values of [embassy, consulate, liaison]
- embassy=* with key values of [yes, high_commission, nunciature, interests_section, mission, delegation, branch_embassy, residence]
- consulate=* with key values of {yes, consulate_general, consular_agency, consular_office, honorary_consul]
- liaison=* with key values of [liaison_office, representative_office, subnational];
- diplomatic=* with key values of [embassy, consulate, liaison]
- establish formally diplomatic:services:*=[yes/no] additional (tertiary) tag with the following options:
- diplomatic:services:non-immigrant_visas*=[yes/no]
- diplomatic:services:immigrant_visas=[yes/no]
- diplomatic:services:citizen_services=[yes/no]; and
Additional tags routinely used would include:
- country=* where * is the two-character ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for the sending country or organization or the generally accepted English acronym for an international organization (e.g., UN, OSCE). If a mission represents multiple countries, * will constitute a semicolon-delimited list of tags, e.g., country=BE;LU for a mission representing both Belgium and Luxembourg;
- name=* where * is the name of the mission (additional tags in the format name:*= where * is the two-character language code for multilingual names should be encouraged);
- target=* where * is the two-character ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for the receiving (accrediting) country or organization or the generally accepted English acronym for an international organization (e.g., UN, OSCE, NATO, WTO). If a mission is accredited to multiple countries or organizations, * will constitute a semicolon-delimited list of tags, e.g., target=US;CA for a mission accredited to both the United States and Canada, or target=BE;EU;NATO for a mission accredited simultaneously to Belgium, the European Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
and of course the address and other contact information.
Original Proposal (for reference only): The amenity=consulate tag is already in use but has not been formalized.
Although a consulate is not legally a diplomatic establishment, the diplomatic=* tag is in widespread use to define types of diplomatic and consular establishments. While it is tempting to propose creation of a consular=* tag, in the interests of avoiding both over-proliferation of tags and splitting too many hairs it is proposed that the diplomatic=* tag continue to be applied to refine information about the type of consular establishment being mapped:
- diplomatic=consular_agency
- diplomatic=consular_office
- diplomatic=consulate
- diplomatic=consulate_general
- diplomatic=honorary_consul
Prior discussions of embassy functions have proposed additional tags describing services offered, including visa issuance. This is a potential topic for discussion.
Additional tags routinely used would include:
and of course the address and other contact information.
Applies to
This proposal would apply to all types of foreign diplomatic and consular missions as well as government-to-government liaison offices lacking diplomatic status, including subnational representative offices (e.g., State of Virginia offices abroad). Diplomatic missions are defined as missions covered by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the UN Charter, or other, similar multilateral treaty on diplomatic relations; consular missions are defined as missions covered by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
Note: This proposal pertains to government-operated missions only, and specifically excludes commercial firms providing assistance to visa applicants either under contract to a diplomatic or consular mission or independently.
Original Proposal Text (for reference only): This tag would apply to consulates and consular offices as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Consulates are headed by consuls and consuls general. They are clearly identified as consulates by signage in both the local language and the language of the sending country.
Features/Pages affected
This proposal would affect the office=*, diplomatic=*, and amenity=* tags and their associated pages.
External discussions
Comments
Please comment on the discussion page. Germane comments submitted via the tagging mailing list will be copied to the discussion page.
Voting
Voting on this proposal has been closed.
It was approved with 18 votes for, 1 vote against and 1 abstention.
I approve this proposal. --Icke68746 (talk) 17:38, 28 November 2018 (UTC)- I approve this proposal. --EneaSuper (talk) 11:42, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. Awesome job! User:Fizzie41
- I approve this proposal. Thanks for all the efforts making this rich and well written proposal! --Privatemajory (talk) 04:39, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
I oppose this proposal. Restricting the diplomatic key to 3 values leads to the same problem as having a consulate tagged as amenity=embassy. Rather than differentiate the proposal combines. Warin61 (talk) 05:55, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
- If new value will be needed new proposal may be easily made Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 16:36, 18 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. This is the best-handled tagging proposal that I have seen and participated in on the tagging mailing list. —seav (talk) 09:05, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. I do not typically participate in tag proposal votes but i want to acknowledge and support the diligent work on a - as it seems to me - very considerate proposal. --Imagico (talk) 13:18, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. very good --Waldhans (talk) 15:28, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. Well researched and thought out. All proposals should aim at this standard. The author is wasted in diplomatic service and should be promoted to the DWG. :) --Brian de Ford (talk) 15:34, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
I have comments but abstain from voting on this proposal. I would have preferred amenity=consulate(original proposal), as it is simpler and needs less retagging. Besides,office=*doesn't go well with residences. But that apart, i apreciate your proposal. --SelfishSeahorse (talk) 16:19, 17 November 2018 (UTC)- I approve this proposal. I don't agree with all of this but I find it useful and workable. Excellent preparatory work. Johnparis (talk) 18:04, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. Great proposal and well documented. Glassman (talk) 18:24, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. although I would have preferred to skip the diplomatic key and use 3 different amenity values instead. This would have allowed to have 1 tag for the basic information and another one for the subtype, while this proposal requires 2 tags for the basic type (embassy, consulate or liaison office) and a third for the subtype, without sufficient benefit in my eyes, but I can live with it :) --Dieterdreist (talk) 21:23, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. A very good proposal, well researched. I had preferred to have also embassy, consulate, and liaison prefixed with diplomatic: (same as it is done with service), but nonetheless I think this proposal is a big step forward. Thanks! --Smz (talk) 16:28, 18 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. I see no problems with that proposal. --Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 16:36, 18 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. --Polyglot (talk) 09:10, 23 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. User:Johnwhelan
- I approve this proposal. --Lyx (talk) 20:34, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. -- Kresp0 (talk) 14:51, 28 November 2018 (UTC)
- I approve this proposal. --Highflyer74 (talk) 13:25, 29 November 2018 (UTC)
References
- ↑ “Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.
- ↑ “Vienna Convention on Consular Relations”.
- ↑ For historical reasons, embassies representing the Vatican are called "nunciatures" and heads of such missions "nuncios".
- ↑ See for example “22 U.S. Code § 3303 - Application to Taiwan of laws and international agreements”.. The VCDR does not apply to U.S.-Taiwan relations because the two parties do not officially recognize each other, but the U.S. Congress passed a law saying in effect that the VCDR's rules apply as if the two parties did recognize each other.