Current International Legal Issues of the Institute of Diplomatic Asylum

INTRODUCTION. The granting of asylum to people persecuted by the host State on political grounds in the premises of diplomatic missions can be traced in the practice of different countries for many centuries. Nevertheless, the institution of diplomatic asylum remains one of the most controversial issues of international law and diplomatic practice primarily due to the lack of international legal regulation, which leads to divergent positions of states on the admissibility of granting diplomatic asylum. In practice, inconsistent practice in this regard serves as a basis for potential international disputes, as well as violation of the inviolability of diplomatic missions by the host State, abuse of immunities and privileges and interference in internal affairs by the accrediting State. Despite the existence of a treaty framework governing the procedure for granting this type of asylum, the practice of Latin American countries is also inconsistent and contradictory. In this regard, the article analyzes the current international legal issues of the institution of diplomatic asylum, including its role and place in international law, along with the peculiarities of the procedure for granting it both in Latin American countries and in states of other regions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. The present study was carried out on the basis of universal international agreements, as well as regional acts applicable to the institution of diplomatic asylum. In preparing the article, the author also took into account works of leading Russian and foreign experts in the field of international law and diplomacy. In addition, for the purposes of the research court decisions rendered on the disputes arising in the course of the implementation of the institution in question were analysed. The following general scientific and special methods of cognition were used in the work: dialectical method, methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, comparative-legal and historical-legal methods.

RESEARCH RESULTS. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of diplomatic asylum institution legal basis, including the inherent characteristics of Latin American regional approach to the right of asylum in premises of legations. Special attention was paid to the practical aspects of the question under consideration, based on existing case law, that facilitated the identification of conflicts of universal and regional legal norms applicable to the institution of diplomatic asylum. In particular, legal uncertainty was revealed regarding the correlation between the sovereignty of the host State and the inviolability of the premises of the diplomatic mission of the accrediting State.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. Based on the conducted research, the author concludes that the absence of universal international legal recognition of the diplomatic asylum institution, uniform practice of states and universal international treaty regulating the issues of its granting contribute to the formation of a dangerous trend: host states apply illegal measures against foreign diplomatic missions thus infringing not only the inviolability of its premises, but also the provisions of international law, justifying their wrongful acts by the need to prosecute undesirable persons who have taken refuge on the foreign state’s territory, thereby undermining the foundations of international security. The interstate disputes arising in this regard necessitate further reglamentation of the institute of diplomatic asylum to develop a unified legal approach to the matter at issue. 

1. Abashidze A.H., Chernykh I.A. Svoboda slova, ponimaemaja Organizaciej Objedinennyh Nacij i nekotorymi gosudarstvami-chlenami [Liberty of Discussion is Being Realized by United Nationas and Some Member States]. – Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Serija: Juridicheskie nauki [RUDN Journal of Law]. 2016. Vol. 3. P. 76-89. (In Russ.)

2. Ambos K. El caso de Julian Assange: orden de detención europea versus asilo diplomático. – Revista Nuevo Foro Penal. 2013. Vol. 9. Issue 81. P. 116-138.

3. Arredondo R. WikiLeaks, Assange y el Futuro del Asilo Diplomatico. – Revista Española de Derecho Internacional. 2017. Vol. 69. Issue 2. P. 119-144.

4. Behrens P. The law of diplomatic asylum – a contextual approach. – Michigan Journal of International Law. 2014. Vol. 35. Issue 2. P. 319–367.

5. Blishchenko I.P. Diplomaticheskoe pravo [Diplomatic Law] Moscow: Vysshaya shkola Publ. 1990. 284 p. (In Russ.)

6. Chisholm J.T. Chen Guancheng and Julian Assange: The Normative Impact of International Incidents on Diplomatic Asylum Law. – The George Washington Law Review. 2014. Vol. 82. Issue 2. P. 528-555.

7. Demin Yu.G. Sovremennye tendencii v predostavlenii ubezhishha i ukrytija v pomeshhenijah diplomaticheskih predstavitel'stv [Current Trends in Asylum and Refuge in the Premises of Diplomatic Missions]. – Moskovskij zhurnal mezhdunarodnogo prava [Moscow Journal of International Law]. 1992. №4. P. 94-103. (In Russ.).

8. Denza E. Diplomatic Law: Commentary on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2016. 472 p.

9. Galenskaja L.N. Pravo ubezhishha [The Right of Asylum]. Moscow: International relations. 1968. 128 p. (In Russ.)

10. Guljaeva E.E. Institut diplomaticheskogo ubezhishha v regional'nom mezhdunarodnom prave na primere stran Latinskoj Ameriki [The Institute of Diplomatic Asylum in Regional International Law on The Example of Latin American Countries]. – Evrazijskij juridicheskij zhurnal [Eurasian Law Journal]. 2023. № 6 (181). P. 24-28. (In Russ.)

11. Heijer M. Europe and extraterritorial asylum. Hart Publishing. 2012. 342 p.

12. Heijer M.D. Diplomatic Asylum and the Assange Case. – Leiden Journal of International Law. 2013. Vol. 26. Issue 2. P. 399-425.

13. Hughes-Gerber L. Diplomatic Asylum. Exploring a Legal Basis for the Practice under General International Law. Cham: Springer. 2021. 230 p.

14. Khabrieva T.Y. Migracionnoe pravo: sravnitel'no-pravovoe issledovanie. [Migration Law: Comparative Legal Research]. Мonografija. Moscow: The Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation. 2019. 400 p. (In Russ.)

15. Restrepo D.J. Modern Day Extradition Practice: A Case Analysis of Julian Assange. – Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law. 2021. Vol. 11. Issue 1. P. 138-157.

16. Ronning C.N. Diplomatic Asylum: Legal Norms and Political Reality in Latin American Relations. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1965. 239 p.

17. Tyurenkova K.A. Pravo ubezhishha kak mezhdunarodno-pravovoj institut [The Right of Refuge: International Legal Institution]. – [Gumanitarnye issledovanija] Humanitaria Studia. 2017. №1 (61). P. 116-121. (In Russ.)

18. Värk R. Diplomatic asylum: Theory, Practice and the Case of Julian Assange. – Sisekaitseakadeemia Toimetised. 2012. Vol. 11. P. 240-257.

19. Vzquez A.N. El Asilo Diplomtico: de Haya de la Torre a los Asilados del Caso “WikiLeaks”. – Revista Latinoamericana de Derechos Humanos. 2017. Vol. 28. Issue 2. P. 213- 226.

20. Yastrebova A.Yu. Otdel'nye formy regional'noj mezhdunarodno-pravovoj reglamentacii instituta ubezhishha [Particular Forms of International Legal Regulation of Asylum on Regional Level]. – [Social'nye i gumanitarnye nauki. Otechestvennaja i zarubezhnaja literatura: IAZh. Ser. 4: Gosudarstvo i pravo] Information and analytical journal «Social and Humanitien Sciences: Domestic and Foreign Literature». Series 4. “State and law”. 2023. № 2. P. 59-71. (In Russ.)

21. Zinchenko N.N. Mezhdunarodnoe migracionnoe pravo: osnovy teorii i praktiki. [International Migration Law: fundamentals of theory and practice]. Moscow: The Scientific Book. 2011. 344 p. (In Russ.)