High commissioner (Commonwealth)
Senior diplomat between Commonwealth states, equivalent to ambassador.
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of a diplomatic mission from one Commonwealth government to another, generally ranking as an ambassador. The mission is typically called a high commission rather than an embassy.
History
Within the British Empire, high commissioners were envoys of the Imperial government appointed to manage protectorates or groups of territories not fully under British sovereignty, while Crown colonies were administered by a governor and dominions by a governor-general. For instance, when Cyprus came under British administration in 1878, it remained nominally under Ottoman suzerainty, and the British representative was titled high commissioner until Cyprus became a Crown colony in 1925, at which point the incumbent became governor. High commissioners were also appointed for Palestine. In the Seychelles, the last governor became high commissioner in 1975 when self-rule under the Crown was granted, serving until independence in 1976. High commissioners could act as British agents of indirect rule over native states, managing diplomatic relations and supervising resident commissioners. In important regions, a commissioner-general might oversee several high commissioners and governors, as with the commissioner-general for South-East Asia responsible for Malaya, Singapore and British Borneo.
Current practice
The term is used across all 56 member states of the Commonwealth. Diplomatic relations between these countries are traditionally at the governmental level rather than the head-of-state level, because many Commonwealth states historically shared the Monarch of the United Kingdom as head of state. A high commissioner is equivalent in rank and role to an ambassador, with the full title "High Commissioner Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary". A high commissioner carries a simple letter of introduction from one head of government to another, whereas an ambassador carries formal letters of credence from a head of state. This difference is reflected in formal titles: British high commissioners are titled "The High Commissioner for His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom", while British ambassadors are "His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador". High commissioners are also appointed to republics and indigenous monarchies within the Commonwealth; in such cases, letters of commission may be issued by one head of state and presented to the other, though some governments use the informal prime-ministerial letter. Diplomatic missions of Commonwealth countries are called high commissions, and a high commissioner may be accredited to multiple countries without a permanent mission in each.
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