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Ad Honorem Consuls are sometimes assumed to be an Ad Honorem or ceremonial title; this is not true. The term Ad Honorem refers to the fact Ad Honorem Consuls are rarely compensated or paid for their duties. Many countries approve and utilize Ad Honorem Consuls to facilitate both Consular and Diplomatic functions with little cost. Providing office space, housing and salaries to government officials at foreign diplomatic posts is very expensive. Instead, a foreign (sending nation) can appoint a citizen or resident of the receiving nation to act in an official capacity. Many Ad Honorem Consuls are lawyers or former Ambassadors. The Ad Honorem Consul acts as both Consul and Diplomat in various situations. According to the US State Department, there are approximately 1,060 Ad Honorem Consuls in the United States. Ad Honorem Consuls are typically well connected affluent individuals.
Ad Honorem Consuls are usually provided CC or Consular Corps license plates for their vehicle and are provided with photo identification from both the sending and receiving nations to assert their position and consular immunities when acting in an official capacity.
The position of Ad Honorem Consul was sanctioned by the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in which all United Nations member countries are signers. Refer to http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_2_1963.pdf . Also refer to Chapter 3 regarding the specific parameters of Ad Honorem Consuls.
In fact article 5 details the Consul’s role or function:
Consular functions consist of:
A)Protecting in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, both
individuals and bodies corporate, within the limits permitted by international law;
B) Furthering the development of commercial, economic, cultural and scientific relations between the sending State and the receiving State and otherwise promoting friendly relations between them in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention;
C) Ascertaining by all lawful means conditions and developments in the commercial, economic,
cultural and scientific life of the receiving State, reporting thereon to the Government of the sending State and giving information to persons interested;
D) Issuing passports and travel documents to nationals of the sending State, and visas or appropriate documents to persons wishing to travel to the sending State;
E) Helping and assisting nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, of the sending State;
F) Acting as notary and civil registrar and in capacities of a similar kind, and performing certain
functions of an administrative nature, provided that there is nothing contrary thereto in the laws and regulations of the receiving State;
G) Safeguarding the interests of nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, of the sending
States in cases of succession mortis causa in the territory of the receiving State, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the receiving State;
H) Safeguarding, within the limits imposed by the laws and regulations of the receiving State, the interests of minors and other persons lacking full capacity who are nationals of the sending State, particularly where any guardianship or trusteeship is required with respect to such persons;
I) Subject to the practices and procedures obtaining in the receiving State, representing or arranging appropriate representation for nationals of the sending State before the tribunals and other authorities of the receiving State, for the purpose of obtaining, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the receiving State, provisional measures for the preservation of the rights and interests of these nationals, where, because of absence or any other reason, such nationals are unable at the proper time to assume the defence of their rights and interests;
J) Transmitting judicial and extrajudicial documents or executing letters rogatory or commissions to take evidence for the courts of the sending State in accordance with international agreements in force or, in the absence of such international agreements, in any other manner compatible with the laws and regulations of the receiving State;
K) Exercising rights of supervision and inspection provided for in the laws and regulations of the
sending State in respect of vessels having the nationality of the sending State, and of aircraft registered in that State, and in respect of their crews;
L) Extending assistance to vessels and aircraft mentioned in subparagraph (k) of this article, and to their crews, taking statements regarding the voyage of a vessel, examining and stamping the ship’s papers, and, without prejudice to the powers of the authorities of the receiving State, conducting investigations into any incidents which occurred during the voyage, and settling disputes of any kind between the master, the officers and the seamen insofar as this may be authorized by the laws and regulations of the sending State;
M) Performing any other functions entrusted to a consular post by the sending State which are not prohibited by the laws and regulations of the receiving State or to which no objection is taken by the receiving State or which are referred to in the international agreements in force between the sending State and the receiving State.
In short, Ad Honorem Consuls provide a resource for economic development, trade, cultural exchanges and consular assistance to both the sending and receiving states.
Source: http://honoraryconsul.blogspot.com/2009/07/defining-honorary-consul.html?m=1
