Chargé d'affaires (Fr. for "in charge of business"), the title of two classes of diplomatic agents: French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... This page is about negotiations; for the board game, see Diplomacy (game). ...

1. Chargés d'affaires (ministres chargés d'affaires), who were placed by the reglement of the Congress of Vienna in the fourth class of diplomatic agents, are heads of permanent missions accredited to countries to which, for some reason, it is not possible or not desirable to send agents of a higher rank. They are distinguished from these latter by the fact that their credentials are addressed by the minister for foreign affairs of the state which they are to represent to the minister for foreign affairs of the receiving state. Though still occasionally accredited, ministers of this class are now rare. They have precedence over the other class of chargés d'affaires.
2. Chargés d'affaires per interim, or chargés des affaires, are those who are presented as such, either verbally or in writing, by heads of missions of the first, second or third rank to the minister for foreign affairs of the state to which they are accredited, when they leave their post temporarily, or pending the arrival of their successor. It is usual to appoint a counsellor or secretary of legation chargé d'affaires. Some governments are accustomed to give the title of minister to such chargés d'affaires, which ranks them with the other heads of legation. Essentially chargés d'affaires do not differ from ambassadors, envoys or ministers resident. They represent their nation, and enjoy the same privileges and immunities as other diplomatic agents.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The Congress of Vienna was a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe that was chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and held in Vienna, Austria, from October 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815. ... A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving state. ... Until the early 19th Century, each European nation had its own system of diplomatic rank. ... For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ... Until the early 19th Century, each European nation had its own system of diplomatic rank. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...

See also

• Diplomacy
• Diplomatic mission
• Diplomatic rank