Leonavičiūtė, Simona

This article attempts to analyse an issue of diplomatic asylum granted on humanitarian grounds. Diplomatic asylum is analysed in the context of international law instruments, including universal and regional human rights documents, and relevant case law. Opinions of different authors writing on the topic are also taken into account. The notion, historical development and practical examples of diplomatic asylum are presented in order to reveal the issue and understand different attitudes towards it. The article focuses on the understanding of humanitarian grounds and the relation between diplomatic asylum and human rights. In this article, diplomatic asylum is considered to be an extraordinary means to protect human rights.