appear as a witness before the courts of the country where he resides. When the testimony of such consular officer is needed, he shall be invited in writing to appear in court; and if unable to do so, his testimony shall be requested in writing, or be taken orally, at his dwelling or office; and it is the duty of the consular officers to comply with such requests without unnecessary delay. The same treaty also provides that in all criminal cases in which the constitution or laws of the nation secure to persons charged with crimes the attendance of witnesses in their favor, the appearance in court of a consular officer, when required as such witness, shall be demanded, with all possible regard for the consular dignity and to the duties of his office. See United States Consular Regulations, (1870,) ¶ 28; and treaties in Appendix No. 1. To similar effect is the treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation between France and Peru, March 9, 1861, Art. XLIII., 8 De Clercq, 193. See, also, consular convention between France and That between France and Brazil, above, restricts this provision to consular officers and their clerks, who are members of the nation by which they are appointed. Books, papers, &c., not to be seized. 183. The authorities cannot seize, examine, or in any way interfere with the books, papers or other property held by the consul, by virtue of his office.. But a consul engaged in business must keep the books and papers relating thereto separate from those of the consulate; and they may be examined in the same manner as papers of other persons; except as provided in the article entitled Searches and Seizures, in the Section concerning RIGHTS OF RESIDENCE, of Chapter XXV., entitled PERSONAL RIGHTS OF FOREIGNERS. United States Consular Regulations, (1870,) ¶ 25, and treaties in Appendix No. 1. By Article 109, an exception to this rule is recognized in the case of national emergencies affecting the existence of the nation. The treaty between the United States and Italy, 15 U. S. Stat. at L., (Tr.,) 185, Art. VI., by which this article is suggested, exempts simply papers deposited in the consulate. See, also, 2 Phill. Int. Law, 245. To much the same effect is the treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation beiween France and Peru, March 9, 1861, 8 De Clercq, 193, Art. XLV.; and the consular convention between France and Portugal, July 11, 1866, 9 Id., 582, Art. V. To the same effect, without, however, the last provision, is the consular convention between France and Austria, Dec. 11, 1866, Art. V., 9 De Clercq, 669. And the treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation between France and Honduras, Feb. 22, 1856, 7 Id., 10, Art. XXI. Dwelling and office inviolable. 1 184. The consular dwelling and office are exempt from the jurisdiction of the nation of his residence,' but cannot be used as an asylum,' except for the protection of members of the consul's nation against invasions of rights secured to them by this Code, or by special compact, or for the like protection of members of a nation on whose behalf his friendly offices are interposed. 3 1 The convention between the United States and Italy, 15 U. S. Stat. at L., (Tr.,) 185, Art. VI., declares that the consular offices and dwellings shall be at all times inviolable, and the local authorities shall not, under any pretext, invade them. See, also, convention or treaty between the United States and Belgium, December 5, 1868, Art. VI., U. S. Cons. Reg., (1870,) ¶ 500. 2 Convention between the United States and Italy, above, and the treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation between France and Peru, March 9, 1861, 8 De Clercq, 193, Art. XLIV. 3 This exception seems reasonable, under the system of a Code in which the rights of foreigners are defined. Levi, (International Commercial Law, vol. 1, Intro., p. xii.,) says, that a "consulate is held to be the territory of the country which the consul represents; and therefore, all deeds and acts done within it, or under “the seal of the consulate, are held as done in England.” The conclusion is doubtless sound, but the reason assigned is questionable. The foregoing provisions do not confer any extra-territorial character on the consulate. General subjection to local law. 185. Except as provided in this Title, the consular office confers no exemption from the laws and jurisdiction of the country of the consul's residence. In case a consul is prosecuted, or punished, or deprived of the exercise of his functions, for an offence against the laws of the country of his resi dence, the offended government must acquaint the consul's nation with its motives for having thus acted. Treaty between the United States and Sweden & Norway, July 4, 1827, Art. XIII., 8 U. S, Stat. at L., 346. Numerous treaties provide that consular officers engaged in commerce must submit to the same laws and regulations to which members of the nation in which they reside are required to submit in the same place in respect to the like business. See, for instance, the treaty of commerce and navigation between France and 186. Agents of intercourse other than those provided for in the last two chapters may be designated as Commissioners. This designation is also given by the United States to their resident diplomatic officers in the Sandwich Islands, Paraguay, &c. Lawrence's Wheaton, 387, note 124. But an agent, sent with credentials on public business, is by the law of nations a public minister, and the title of agent or commissioner makes no difference. Vattel's Law of Nations, Bk. 4, ch. 6, § 75. Immunities of commissioners. 187. Commissioners have only such immunities as the nation to which they are sent may choose to accord. Bluntschli, § 243; Klüber, §§ 170-172. TITLE IV. INTERNATIONAL COMPACTS. The interpretation and effect of contracts by a nation with parties other than another nation, is provided for by the Chapter on CONTRACTS, in Part V., entitled PRIVATE RIGHTS OF PERSONS. See a discussion of the consequences of non-execution of the engagements of goverments relative to the payment of their public debt, in Revue de Droit Intern. et de Legis. Comp., 1869, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 275. CHAPTER XV. Treaties. XVI. Informal Compacts. CHAPTER XV. TREATIES. ARTICLE 188. "Treaty" defined. 189. Capacity to conclude treaty. 193. Ratification, when obligatory. 194. Notice of reasons of refusal to ratify. 195. Treaty negotiated contrary to minister's full power. 196, 197. Time of taking effect. 198. Treaty interfering with third party. 199. What provisions of this Code may be mod- 200. Demand of performance, when necessary. "Treaty" defined. 188. The term "treaty, as used in this Code, means a written agreement between two or more nations for the performance or omission of an act creating, terminating, or otherwise affecting an international right or relation. 3 1 1 The term “conventions," which Wheaton, (Lawrence's ed., p. 460,) understands as restricted to executed agreements, seems no longer to be used with any uniformity in this limited sense. 2 Some authorities state that a treaty must be in writing. See Klüber, Droit des Gens, § 142; and 2 Phillimore's International Law, p. 64, and note m. 3 Fiore, (Nouveau Droit International, part I., chs. 1-4,) thinks that a nation cannot by treaty part with any of its essential powers. Capacity to conclude treaty. 189. Any two nations can make a treaty. The ratification of a treaty is a recognition of the nation with which it is made. Lawrence, Commentaire sur Wheaton, p. 196. Consent, how communicated. 190. The consent of a nation to a treaty can be communicated with effect only in the form,' and through the executive or other department, authorized by its law, or through its public minister duly empowered. 2 1 E. g., constitutional requirements providing for the concurrent action of several departments. Klüber, § 142, p. 181, note b; Lawrence's Wheaton, p. 452, note 151; Id., 457. 2 Heffter, Droit International, § 84. It is the practice of governments, in the drawing up of their treaties with each other, to vary the order of naming the parties, and that of the signatures of the plenipotentiaries, in the counterparts of the same treaty, so that each party is first named, and its plenipotentiary signs first, in the copy possessed and published by itself. And in treaties drawn up between parties using different languages, and executed in both, each party is first named, and its plenipotentiary signs first, in the copy executed in its own language. Instructions to Diplomatic Agents of United States, § XX. In acts between several powers admitting the alternal, the order to be followed in signature is decided by lot. Protocol of Treaty of Vienna, Art. VIII., cited in Lawrence's Wheaton, p. 380. Bluntschli, (Droit International Codifié, § 178,) says, that instead of this rule, that of the alphabetic order of the initials of the several States is often followed. Treaty by state in revolution. 191. The executive or other departments of a nation |