Дипломатиялық дәрежелер жүйесі

System of professional and social rank

Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings at state dinners, the person to whom diplomatic credentials should be presented, and the title by which the diplomat should be addressed.

Most countries worldwide have some form of internal rank, roughly parallel to the diplomatic ranks, which are used in their foreign service or civil service in general. The correspondence is not exact, however, for various reasons, including the fact that according to diplomatic usage, all Ambassadors are of equal rank, but Ambassadors of more senior rank are typically sent to more important postings. Some countries may make specific links or comparisons to military ranks.

Officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) are graded into four broad bands (BB1 to BB4), with the Senior Executive Service (SES Band 1 to SES Band 3) following above. Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Consuls General usually come from the Senior Executive Service, although in smaller posts the head of mission may be a BB4 officer. Generally speaking (and there are variations in ranking and nomenclature between posts and positions), Counsellors are represented by BB4 officers; Consuls and First and Second Secretaries are BB3 officers and Third Secretaries and Vice Consuls are BB2 officers. DFAT only posts a limited number of low level BB1 staff abroad. In large Australian missions an SES officer who is not the head of mission could be posted with the rank of Minister.

The German Foreign Service uses a rank system that is connected to that of the rest of the civil administration and to military ranks through a common pay table. All ranks also occur in female form. Diplomatic rank in: Foreign Office, embassies, consulates Pay grade Military rank equivalent Konsulatssekretäranwärter aspirant officer candidate Konsulatssekretär A 9 2nd lieutenant Konsulatssekretär 1. Klasse A 10 1st lieutenant Regierungsamtmann, Kanzler A 11 Captain Amtsrat, Kanzler 1. Klasse A 12 Oberamtsrat, Kanzler 1. Klasse, Konsul A 13 Stabshauptmann Attaché aspirant Legationsrat A 13 Major Legationsrat Erster Klasse, Konsul Ester Klasse A 14 Lieutenant colonel Vortragender Legationsrat, Botschaftsrat A 15 Vortragender Legationsrat Erster Klasse, Botschaftsrat Erster Klasse A 16 B 3 Colonel Generalkonsul A 16 B 6 according to importance Colonel Brigadier general Botschafter A 15 B 9 according to importance Lieutenant colonel Lieutenant general

His Majesty's Diplomatic Service differentiates between officers in the "Senior Management Structure" (SMS; equivalent to the Senior Civil Service grades of the Home Civil Service) and those in the "delegated grades". SMS officers are classified into four pay bands, and will serve in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London as (in descending order of seniority) Permanent Under Secretary (O 10), Directors General (O 9), Directors (O 8), and Heads of department or deputy directors (O 7). Overseas Ambassadors and High Commissioners (in Commonwealth countries) are generally drawn from all four SMS bands (and the D7 delegated grade) depending on the size and importance of the mission, as are Consuls General, Deputy Heads of Mission, and Counsellors in larger posts. (Deputy Heads of Mission at the most significant Embassies, for example those in Washington and in Paris, are known as Ministers.) In the "delegated grades", officers are graded by number from 1 to 7; the grades are grouped into bands lettered A‑D (A1 and A2; B3; C4 and C5; and D6 and D7). Overseas, A2 grade officers hold the title of Attache; B3‑grade officers are Third Secretaries; C4s are Second Secretaries; and C5s and D6s are First Secretaries. D7 officers are usually Counsellors in larger posts, Deputy Heads of Mission in medium sized posts, or Heads of Mission in small posts.

Most countries' consular corps are composed of career diplomats who are simply posted to Consulates/Consulates General. In such situations, these career diplomats will hold consular ranks instead (ranking in descending order: consul general, consul, vice consul, consular agent; equivalents with consular immunity limited to official acts only include honorary consul general, honorary consul, and honorary vice consul. Other titles, including "vice consul general", have existed in the past.) – although they are usually also given a diplomatic rank by the country. Consular ranks and responsibilities differ from country to country, and may also be used concurrently with diplomatic titles if the individual is assigned to an embassy. Diplomatic immunity is generally more limited for consular officials without other diplomatic accreditation, and is broadly limited to immunity with respect to their official duties. While in the past, consular officials have often been more distant from the politically sensitive aspects of diplomacy, this is no longer necessarily the case, and career diplomats in consulates often perform the same roles as those in an embassy would. Some countries also routinely provide their embassy officials with consular commissions, including those without formal consular responsibilities, since a consular commission allows the individual to legalize documents, sign certain documents, and undertake certain other necessary functions. Depending on the practice of the individual country, "consular services" may be limited to services provided for citizens or residents of the sending country, or extended to include, for example, visa services for nationals of the host country. Sending nations may also designate incumbents of certain positions as holding consulary authority by virtue of their office, while lacking individual accreditation, immunity and inviolability. For example, 10 U. S. C. §§ 936 and 1044a identify various U. S. military officers (and authorize the service secretaries to identify others) who hold general authority as a notary and consul of the United States for, respectively, purposes of military administration and those entitled to military legal assistance. A nation may also declare that its senior merchant sea captain in a given foreign port—or its merchant sea captains generally—has consulary authority for merchant seamen.