Guiding principles on internal displacement in the system of international protection of the internally displaced persons’ rights

The article under studies carries out a complex analysis of the Guiding Principles on the issues of internal displacement as a universal international standard of the internally displaced persons’ rights. It points out that in terms of the rapid growth of internal displacement (caused by armed conflicts, political instability, massive violations of human rights, and natural disasters), the issue of improving the international legal mechanisms for responding to and protecting the internally displaced persons is becoming particularly urgent. The article reveals certain historical background and the process of developing the Guiding Principles, studies their structure, legal origin, the content of their key provisions, as well as determines their role within the system of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. In addition, the article ascertains that the Guiding Principles – though being of an advisory nature – have acquired a significant impact in international practice, since they have combined the norms from various branches of international law and laid the foundations for elaborating national legislative acts and regional treaties (like the 2009 Kampala Convention of the African Union). Particular emphasis has been laid on the analysis of the Ukrainian and foreign scientists’ approaches to understanding the essence and significance of the Guiding Principles. The article points out that the latters’ perception has become an essential stage in developing the «responsibility to protect» doctrine, as it has reflected the transition from traditional non-interference with the states’ inner affairs to the concept of the collective international liability for the population’s protection from severe human rights violations. Apart from that, the article studies the significance of the Guiding Principles in forming the present-day system of international humanitarian response, as well as the latter’s affect on the activities of international organizations and national institutions in the field of protecting the inner replaced persons in Ukraine. In conclusion, the article claims that the Guiding Principles have come to be the basic tools for making up a new paradigm of states’ international liability for providing the rights of the internally displaced persons. They have combined the norms of international human rights law, humanitarian law, and refugee law, thus setting up a minimum standard for humanitarian response that keeps influencing the international practice and development of national protection mechanisms in terms of today’s migration crises.