Persona non grata (Latin, plural: personae non gratae), literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country. It is the most serious form of censure which one country can apply to foreign diplomats, who are otherwise protected by diplomatic immunity from arrest and other normal kinds of prosecution.
Contents |
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. 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 diplomatic status"[1]) or any overt criminal act (example: drug trafficking), 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. Among notable recent occurrences was an exchange between the United States and Ecuador[2].
In non-diplomatic usage, referring to someone as persona non grata is to say that he or she is ostracized; terminal, chronic banishment, so as to be figuratively nonexistent.
In police circles, this often meant any officer who broke the Blue Wall by informing against fellow officers, e.g. testifying against officers who were corrupt. Frank Serpico was one real life example, while a cultural example is Paul Newman's character in Fort Apache, The Bronx, who informed on a fellow officer after witnessing him throw an unarmed man off a rooftop during a riot. The term itself is used as the title for a mission in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.