Current International Legal Issues of the Institute of Diplomatic Asylum

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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.