PRIVILEGES.
The consular service originally comprised some of the functions and enjoyed many of the privileges of the diplomatic. It lost those functions and most of the privileges when the diplomatic service developed and became common, except in uncivilized countries. The consul has lost, in the main, his representative character and has retained in uncivilized countries his judicial power—capacity to act as a judge. The consul has lost the right of exterritoriality, that is, the right to be subject to the laws of his own country and not to those of the country where he is stationed. However, he is under the special protection of international law and is regarded as the officer “both of the state which appoints and the state which receives him”. The extent of his authority is derived from his commission and his exequatur, and the extent of his privileges is defined for the most part by treaties between his own government and the one where he is stationed. Among these we will notice the following: