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"The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity."
Article 30 grants the same inviolability and protection to a diplomatic agent's private residence, his or her papers, correspondence, and property.
At the same time, inviolability isn't extra-territoriality. In other words, embassy (diplomatic mission) grounds remain the territory of host nations. However, inviolability protects missions from forced entry. Doing so constitutes a serious breach of international law.
If states want their diplomats given courtesy and respect, they're obligated to afford similar treatment to foreign representatives on their soil. They're also bound under international law provisions.
In 1987, Britain's Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act (DCPA) permits revocation of diplomatic mission status if it "ceases to use land for the purposes of its mission or exclusively for the purposes of a consular post." It further states doing so must be "permissible under international law."
The law followed the Libyan London embassy's 1984 siege. Someone inside the building fatally shot a UK police officer. An 11 day standoff ended with Britain severing diplomatic relations with Libya and expelling its diplomats. Forced entry didn't occur.
Using DCPA to seize Assange is problematic. Doing so would set a dangerous precedent and place its own diplomats at risk.
DCPA addressed situations involving missions used for serious wrongdoing. Sheltering Assange hardly qualifies. Legitimate courts won't sanction forced entry. Britain claims it's duty bound to extradite. Obeying fundamental law takes precedence. So does doing the right thing and not running cover for Washington.
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