Legal Foundations of International State Responsibility for Pandemics - The Covid-19

In this article, the legal foundations of State responsibility for pandemics due to the failure to observe "due diligence" standard of care in dealing with the pandemic, as well as the factors that preclude the responsibility, will be analyzed. The factors include force majeure, urgency and necessity. The main question is whether the State in the international arena be held responsible for the negligence or failure to prevent the spread of the internal or international spread of the disease?

The research method is analytical-descriptive and the data collection method is library, with emphasis on interpretation of judgments, codifications of the International Law Commission, and legal texts and the analysis of the doctrines.

In this research, the principles of fidelity, honesty, impartiality and originality of the research have been observed.

There are various elements and criteria to evaluate the States behavior, one of which is the distinction between primary and secondary obligations of States in dealing with pandemics. The violation of the primary obligations results in the secondary obligations. Therefore, in order to prove the responsibility of the State, the violation of the primary obligations must be accompanied by negligence, fault, or non-compliance with the "due diligence" standard of care.

In dealing with pandemics, failure to comply with certain regulations and health systems are considered as a breach of obligations if negligence, fault, or non-compliance by the State is established. A responsible States may plead to factors or circumstances precluding the wrongfulness of conduct, such as force majeure, emergency and necessity. On the other hand, the injured State, subject to certain conditions, and the non-injured State, if proven erga omnes, have the right to resort to the responsibility of the State concerned.Please cite this article as:Safari F. Legal Foundations of International State Responsibility for Pandemics - The Covid-19. Medical Law Journal. 2022; 16(57): e24.