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- Title
Agents of the State: When is an Official of the State an Agent of the State?
- Authors
YEO, COLIN
- Abstract
The current approach to distinguishing between agents of the state and non‐state agents lacks logic and tends to proceed on an ad hoc basis. In section 1, the concept of ‘the state’ is examined briefly in an asylum and a wider human rights and EC law context. The conflict between attributing responsibility to government and providing effective protection to victims of state power is discussed. The practical importance to asylum‐seekers of the distinction between state and non‐state persecution is examined in section 2. It is next argued that greater academic rigour should be adopted in approaching the question of state persecution and greater recognition should be given to the peculiar problems associated with persecution by agents of the state. The English Court of Appeal case of Svazas is examined as part of the analysis, as it is the only case of which the author is aware which explicitly engages with these issues. It is proposed that the courts ought to look to Hathaway's analysis of state persecution, to human rights law and adopt a ‘strict liability’ approach, or explore further the possibility that victims of agents of the state may be ‘unwilling’ to avail themselves of the protection of the authorities.
- Subjects
ENGLAND; PUBLIC officers; RIGHT of asylum; HUMAN rights; INTERNATIONAL law; PERSECUTION; ACTION &; defense cases; ENGLAND. Court of Appeals
- Publication
International Journal of Refugee Law, 2002, Vol 14, Issue 4, p509
- ISSN
0953-8186
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/ijrl/14.4.509