The authors aim to analyze the concept of State responsibility in the time of Covid-19 with respect to India’s actions.
Authors
Harsh Mahaseth, Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School, and a Senior Research Analyst at the Nehginpao Kipgen Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Sanchita Makhija, Law Student, Hidayatullah National Law University, New Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India.
Summary
The recent outbreak of the Covid-19 has brought the whole world to a standstill. It is harrowing to realize that the pandemic has shaken the deepest structures of society. State responsibility and human rights issues have been at the forefront of discussions right from the beginning of the outbreak in China when the State was alleged to have delayed the intimation regarding the virus to the world.
The severity of the virus escalated to the level of a pandemic rising to a level where governments started to restrict movement with the imposition of quarantine or isolation, and the violation of certain rights was justified in the name of emergency.
India has imposed a nationwide lockdown from the very early stage of the disease spread, curbing down several individual rights, unlike most nations that did not resort to such measures initially. The authors aim to analyze the concept of State responsibility in the time of Covid-19 with respect to India’s actions.
In furtherance of the aforementioned, the article has been divided into three sections. The first section shall explain the concept of State responsibility and its implications in the time of a pandemic by discussing the relevant international instruments. The second section shall analyze India’s response to the pandemic and whether it abides by the international and domestic standards of State responsibility.
The third section will conclude with suggestions on what could be the right balance between protecting the rights and combating the crisis with an emphasis on the role of adjudicatory bodies at both a national and international level.
Published in: IILS Law Review
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