Persona non grata

Persona non grata

"Persona non grata" (Latin, plural: "personae non gratae", also abbreviated PNG), literally meaning "an unwelcome person," is a term used in diplomacy with a specialised and legally defined meaning. The opposite of "persona non grata" is "persona grata" (e.g., used as the title of a 1907 work by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky).

Diplomacy

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations Article 9, a receiving State may "at any time and without having to explain its decision" declare any member of a diplomatic staff "persona non grata." A person so declared is considered unacceptable and is usually recalled to his or her home nation. If not recalled, the receiving State "may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the mission."

While diplomatic immunity protects mission staff from prosecution for violating civil and criminal laws, depending on rank, under Articles 41 and 42 of the Vienna Convention, they are bound to respect national laws and regulations (amongst other issues). Breaches of these articles can lead to "persona non grata" being used to 'punish' erring staff. It is also used to expel diplomats suspected of espionage ("activities incompatible with their status"), or as a symbolic indicator of displeasure (e.g. the Italian expulsion of the Egyptian First Secretary in 1984). So-called "tit-for-tat" exchanges have occurred, notably during the Cold War. Notable recent occurrences include exchanges between the United States and Venezuela, the United States and Belarus, the United Kingdom and Russia (see Anglo-Russian relations), between Russia and Georgia, between the United States and Bolivia and between India and Pakistan.

The Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 included the list of 150 personae non gratae of Turkey, which forbade the entry of mainly a group of former Ottoman Empire officials and about 100 other persons to Turkey, until the lifting of this status in 1938.

Kurt Waldheim, former UN Secretary-General and former President of Austria, and his wife were given "personae non gratae" status in the US when he was accused of having known about Nazi war crimes and not having done anything about them; charges that were never proven but, nevertheless, were acted upon.

Non-diplomatic usage

In non-diplomatic usage, calling someone "persona non grata" is to say that he or she is ostracized, so as to be figuratively nonexistent.

See also

* "damnatio memoriae"

External links

* [http://www.ediplomat.com/nd/glossary.htm eDiplomat.com: Glossary of Diplomatic Terms]
* [http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf Text of the Vienna Convention - PDF]


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  • Persona non grata — (del latín persona non grata; plural: personæ non gratæ), significa literalmente una persona no grata como sinónimo de persona no bienvenida. Es un término utilizado en diplomacia con un significado legal específico. Contenido 1 En diplomacia 2… …   Wikipedia Español

  • persona non grata — Loc. lat. que significa ‘persona no grata’ y se usa en referencia a la persona considerada indeseable por un Gobierno o institución: «Yo había comenzado a ser persona non grata» (Laín Descargo [Esp. 1976]). Normalmente se usa con el verbo… …   Diccionario panhispánico de dudas

  • persona\ non\ grata — persona grata [ pɛrsɔnagrata ] n. f. inv. • 1890; mots lat. « personne bienvenue » ♦ Diplom. (en attribut) Représentant d un État lorsqu il est agréé par un autre État (inversement le représentant jugé indésirable est qualifié de persona non… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • persona non grata — n. (Latin) A person who is not pleasing; an unwelcome, undesirable, or unwanted person. The Essential Law Dictionary. Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008. persona non grata …   Law dictionary

  • persona non grata — persona non gra|ta [pəˌsəunə nɔn ˈgra:tə US pərˌsounə na:n ˈgrætə] n [Date: 1800 1900; : Latin; Origin: person not acceptable ] formal be/become/be declared persona non grata to be not welcome in a particular place because of something that you… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • persona non grata — (Loc. lat.); literalmente, persona no deseable ). f. Persona rechazada por un gobierno u otra institución …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • persona non grata — [pər sō′nə nōn grät′ə] n. pl. personae non gratae [pər sō′nē nōn grä′tē] [L] [often in italics] a person who is not acceptable or welcome; esp., a foreign diplomat unacceptable to the government to which he or she is assigned …   English World dictionary

  • persona non grata — ► NOUN (pl. personae non gratae) ▪ an unacceptable or unwelcome person. ORIGIN Latin …   English terms dictionary

  • persona (non) grata — лат. (пэрсона (нон) грата) см. персона нон грата. Толковый словарь иностранных слов Л. П. Крысина. М: Русский язык, 1998 …   Словарь иностранных слов русского языка

  • persona non grata — statusas T sritis Politika apibrėžtis Asmuo, valstybėsnumatytas skirti diplomatiniu atstovu į kitą valstybę, bet ši nesutiko jo priimti, arba diplomatinis atstovas ar kitas diplomatas, paskelbtas nepageidaujamu asmeniu ir privalantis per… …   Politikos mokslų enciklopedinis žodynas

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