kulawrKutafin Law ReviewKutafin Law Review2713-05252713-0533MSAL10.17803/2713-0533.2023.4.26.745-787kulawr-226Research ArticleINTERNATIONAL LAWResponsibility for Offences against Internationally Protected Persons: Contemporary Legal Aspectshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4833-2525VylegzhaninA. N.

Aleksander N. Vylegzhanin, Dr. Sci. (Law), Professor, Head of the Department of International Law

76 Prospekt Vernadskogo, Moscow 119454

danilalvy@mail.ruhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7905-1537KanturR. A.

Ruslan A. Kantur, Legal Advisor, Department on the Issues of NewChallenges and Threats

32/34 Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square, Moscow 119200

ru.a.kantur@gmail.comMoscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University)Russian FederationMinistry of Foreign Aɣ airs of the Russian FederationRussian Federation202312012024104747787Copyright © Vylegzhanin A.N., Kantur R.A., 20242024Vylegzhanin A.N., Kantur R.A.Vylegzhanin A.N., Kantur R.A.Данная работа распространяется под лицензией Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.https://kulawr.msal.ru/jour/article/view/226

The article examines complex legal aspects of the problem of responsibility, when it comes to offences against internationally protected persons (OIPP). The article reveals that, depending on the international legal qualification of the offence, OIPP can be qualified as either an ordinary crime (the one prosecuted under domestic law following the participation of the State in the relevant international conventions the key of which is the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons, Including Diplomatic Agents) or an international crime when it is a violent act against the protected person committed in the situation of an armed conflict. The authors argue that notwithstanding the fact that both cases entail individual criminal responsibility of the delinquent, individual criminal responsibility for OIPP as an ordinary crime occurs to the extent in which a State party to a relevant international convention has provided for punishment in its national legislation for the conduct criminalized thereby. At the same time, with regard to OIPP as a war crime, the article highlights that the commission of OIPP engenders the right to exercise universal jurisdiction under customary international law and the obligation to exercise quasiuniversal jurisdiction under the “Geneva law” for the purpose of bringing delinquents to justice. In the meantime, the most controversial issue is the question of international legal responsibility of a State in cases of OIPP. It is argued that such responsibility can arise, when OIPP is a war crime committed by a State agent or a non-State actor effectively controlled by the State, as well as when it fails to undertake necessary measures to ensure personal inviolability of protected persons in violation of diplomatic law, or in situations of the denial of justice.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest present.