A diplomatic bag, also known as a diplomatic pouch, is a container with certain legal protections used for carrying official correspondence or other items between a diplomatic mission and its home government or other official organizations. The physical concept of a "diplomatic bag" is flexible and therefore can take many forms e.g., a cardboard box, briefcase, duffel bag, large suitcase, crate or even a shipping container. Additionally, a diplomatic bag usually has some form of lock and/or tamper-evident seal attached to it in order to deter interference by unauthorised persons. The most important point is that as long as it is externally marked to show its status, the "bag" has diplomatic immunity from search or seizure, as codified in article 27 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. It may only contain articles intended for official use. It need not be a bag; in fact, no size limit is specified by the convention. It is often escorted by a diplomatic courier, who is similarly immune from arrest and detention.
Read more about Diplomatic Bag: Cryptography, Unusual Shipments
Famous quotes containing the words diplomatic and/or bag:
“An alliance is like a chain. It is not made stronger by adding weak links to it. A great power like the United States gains no advantage and it loses prestige by offering, indeed peddling, its alliances to all and sundry. An alliance should be hard diplomatic currency, valuable and hard to get, and not inflationary paper from the mimeograph machine in the State Department.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“Hitch your wagon to a star. Let us not fag in paltry works which serve our pot and bag alone.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)