Is an Embassy or Consulate "foreign soil"

Embassies and Consulates do not constitute separate territory or "foreign soil". Certain diplomatic provisions and niceties are set out in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (UN, Treat Series, vol500 p. 95) but the granting of territorial jurisdiction is not among them. The US Court of Appeals case of McKeel v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 722 F. 2d 582 - Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit 1983 is of assistance. Sneed J. had to interpret whether the US embassy in Tehran was subject to the jurisdiction of the US and concluded it was not at paras. 16 and 20: … the issue before us is whether the embassy in Tehran is "territory ... subject to the jurisdiction of the United States." Appellants contend that it is. Territory, of course, is a primary basis for jurisdiction, i.e., a state may prescribe and enforce a rule of law for conduct occurring in territory under the state's sovereignty. Restatement (Second) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States Secs. 10, 17, 20 (1965) [hereinafter cited as Restatement (Second) ].7 A United States embassy, however, remains the territory of the receiving state, and does not constitute territory of the United States. Restatement (Second)... Read more →