2 PRINCIPLE 2 AND RELATED GUIDELINES: RESPONSIBILITY OF STATES112 States have a responsibility under international law to act with due diligence to prevent trafficking, to investigate and prosecute traffickers and to assist and protect trafficked persons.112 of care is referred to as “due diligence” and is explored further below. 2.1. PURPOSE AND CONTEXT States may sometimes be reluctant to accept legal responsibility for trafficking and for the violations of human rights that are integral to the trafficking process. They may argue, for example, that the primary wrong of the trafficking and associated harms has been committed by a criminal or groups of criminals and not by the State itself. The State might also argue that it has done everything possible to prevent the harm. Principle 2 confirms that all States, irrespective of their place in the trafficking cycle, have an international legal responsibility to act with due diligence in preventing trafficking; investigating and prosecuting suspected traffickers; and providing assistance and protection to those who have been trafficked. This Principle reiterates a fundamental rule of international law: the State is responsible for breaches of international law that can be directly or indirectly attributed to it. The principle of State responsibility as it operates in the human rights context confirms that the State is held to a certain standard of care, even in situations where it is not the primary agent of harm. This standard This section draws on the more detailed analysis of the law of State responsibility as it relates to trafficking given in Gallagher, International Law of Human Trafficking, chap. 4. 112 2.2. DETERMINING LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRAFFICKING Determining whether State responsibility exists in a particular situation involves a two-step test: • Is the situation, action or omission attributable to the State? • If yes: is the situation, act or omission a breach of an international obligation of that State? The question of whether a particular situation, act or omission can be legally attributed to the State is a matter for the international rules COMMENTARY 75