The Right To National Self-Defence

Brownlie warns against the tendency of writers to claim that justifications for the use of force found in customary law prior to the s remained valid after Charter of the United Nations. UN Charter Article 2 4 is a general prohibition on the resort to force, with only two exceptions: Le droit contre la guerre: The prohibition on the use of force in contemporary international law. International Court of Justice. United States of America.

The Nicaragua case is the locus classicus on self-defense. The ICJ also specified that lawful defensive force must be necessary to accomplish a defensive purpose without a disproportionate cost. Bush White House Archive. Later versions use less provocative terms, but the United States still seems to uphold the idea of using force in self-defense even before obtaining evidence of an armed attack. World Summit Outcome 15 September After a three-year review of the UN Charter and the operation of the organization, the full UN membership agreed to reconfirm the Charter rules as written.

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Related Articles about About Related Articles close popup. Export Citations Print Email Share. Introduction Humanity has always recognized that individuals should have the right to defend themselves from violence. How to Subscribe Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. Under the international law, there are two bases in determining the legality and recourse to the right of national self-defence viz.

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Dinstein, War, Aggression and Self-Defence 4th ed. Immediacy, Necessity and Proportionality 5. The principles of necessity and proportionality to limit the scope of self-defence as well as the requirement of immediacy supplement the conditions set out under the UN Charter.

The immediacy means that there should not be an undue time-lag between the armed attack and reaction in self-defence,10 and has the nuance of imminence of the threat. Charter Paradigm Routledge, , p. Dinstein, War, Aggression and Self-Defence 5th ed. As regards the authorship of an armed attack, three modalities are distinguished. At first, the article 51 of the UN Charter recognizes the existence of an inherent right of self-defence in the case of armed attack by one State against another State.

Cécile Fabre and Seth Lazar

Consequences of the invocation of the right of national self-defense 8. The invocation of the right of national self-defence has an impact on the use of force parameters, status of forces participating in self-defence operations and applicable law. First, the UN Charter and customary international law allows the use of force, including self-defence, in international relations aimed at maintaining or restoring the international peace and security.

Cassese, International Law 2nd ed. Distein, War, Aggression and Self-Defence 4th ed.

Secondly, the status of the armed forces of the state involved in a self-defence operation depends on the nature of the conflict. Moreover, the allied forces invited to conduct operations by another government enjoy functional immunity reflected in the established Status of Forces Agreement SOFA. Recent Development of the National Self-defense