ABSTRACT
The adoption of the UDHR1 in 1948 was a watershed in the development of international human rights law principally because it provided the moral axis on which international law and international relations would from henceforth revolve. A plethora of international and regional treaties have since been adopted. They form a phalanx of safeguards against intrusion into individual freedoms or group identity and autonomy, and provide a launch pad for claiming certain goods and services from the state or for participating in the polity. One of the key principles of international law which have been affected radically by international human rights law is the long-standing doctrine of state responsibility. This doctrine assigns liability to a state that breaches its international obligations. In its traditional sense, it provided remedies to a state for internationally wrongful acts committed by another state. This chapter seeks to explore the ways in which international human rights law, spearheaded by the UDHR, has fundamentally altered the doctrine of state responsibility in international law. The discussion will dwell on the following questions. Who can invoke the doctrine? Whose rights give rise to state responsibility? Can non-state action give rise to state responsibility? The last question will lead to a discussion of the implications of the doctrine of state responsibility for the position of non-state actors in relation to human rights.
