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Guidance

Consular conventions and mandatory notification obligations

Details of countries that have signed agreements with the UK to make it mandatory to notify consular officials when a foreign national is arrested or detained.

Updates to this page

From:
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Published:
4 October 2013
Last updated:
6 November 2025
Show all updates

  1. Contact details of the diplomatic missions in the UK have been removed from the table. The information has been updated to reflect agreements in place in November 2025.

  2. The table has been updated with the contact details of the relevant diplomatic missions in the UK. The information has been updated to reflect agreements in place in November 2025.

  3. First published.

Documents

Table of consular conventions and mandatory notification obligations

MS Word Document, 52.3 KB

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Details

This document contains:

  • a table showing the countries that have signed bilateral treaties with the UK for the mandatory notification of consular officials when a foreign national is arrested or detained
  • a list of countries that have ratified the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR)

These bilateral treaties are agreements governing the treatment of citizens in the countries that have signed the treaty.

‘Mandatory notification obligations’ mean that when a foreign national is arrested or detained, their embassy or consulate must be informed automatically, even without their request. This ensures a country’s citizens receive consular assistance when detained abroad.

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