Open AccessThe death of Jamal Kashoggi: Issues of Human Rights Violations and International Law
Author(s) -
Jumoke Adegbonmire
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
review of human rights
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2520-7032
pISSN - 2520-7024
DOI - 10.35994/rhr.v4i1.89
Subject(s) - law , international law , obligation , state responsibility , public international law , political science , human rights , municipal law , customary international law , international human rights law
State responsibility is a cardinal principle of international law. The doctrine of State sovereignty under international law accords States’ legal personality and requires that they fulfill international obligations. International law imposes obligations on States to perform their duties in ensuring that a breach of international law does not go unpunished. Consequences for such actions means that States need to adhere to procedural and substantive law in addition to offering reparation for the violation of an international obligation. In the past, violation of an international obligation was only attributed to States as they were considered to be the only entity that could possess rights and duties within the international sphere. Therefore States were considered to be the only ones that could be criminally liable for acts that could be attributed to them. But the development in human rights law and the advent of rules governing personal criminal responsibility has extended the scope of international obligations under international law to include States and individuals as being liable for international crimes. The international law disallows immunity from prosecution in foreign domestic courts for the most serious crimes: Re-Pinochet case. This means State responsibility and individual responsibility for wrongful acts are not mutually exclusive.