Expansion of Diplomatic and Consular Actors under Polish Law

This article analyses the expansion of the categories of persons entitled to perform diplomatic and consular functions under Polish law, particularly given the 2015 Consular Law Act and subsequent legislative reforms. Traditionally, the sphere of external representation has been reserved for career diplomats. However, Polish legislation progressively includes actors of a different professional or institutional character. This study begins with a detailed examination of the institution of the honorary consul, whose roots reach back to ancient Greece. Its modern Polish regulation, notably Arts. 120–134 of the Consular Law Act, grants a broad scope of functions including limited notarial powers. This article critically evaluates these provisions, identifying potential risks for legal certainty and state prestige. It then explores new models of economic and trade diplomacy following the 2017 reform introducing the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, and its foreign trade offices, emphasising the tension between corporate efficiency and the need for diplomatic legitimacy. Subsequently, it analyses proposals for involving judges, prosecutors, and notarial professionals in consular and diplomatic support roles, particularly in sensitive family and criminal cases involving Polish citizens abroad. The discussion continues with cultural diplomacy, outlining the role of Polish Institutes and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and concludes with an examination of uniformed service representatives (military attachés, police, and border liaison officers) who combine operational duties with diplomatic representation. Finally, it outlines de lege ferenda postulates aimed at strengthening professionalism, coherence, and constitutional guarantees within Poland’s foreign representation system.

Keywords: consular law, honorary consuls, trade diplomacy, delegated judges and prosecutors, cultural diplomacy