Topic

Circumstances precluding wrongfulness

Author/Academic

AV Lowe

Viewpoint

The author takes the view that the ILC could have characterized the conduct for which circumstances precluding wrongfulness exist as wrongful but excused. This article explores the theoretical differences between those alternatives and, in particular, the distinction between the right of an injured State to waive its entitlement to reparation and the right of an injured State to release other States from their obligation to obey the law. It argues that even if the creation of international legal obligations is, by virtue of the principle of opposability, an essentially bilateral matter, violation of those obligations engages a wider community interest and is not a matter of concern to the law-breaker and the injured State alone.

Source

‘Precluding Wrongfulness or Responsibility: A Plea for Excuses’, 10 European Journal of International Law (1999) 405

Topic

Countermeasures

Author/Academic

LA Sicilianos

Viewpoint

The author critically discusses the ambivalent provision of the ARSIWA concerning the possibility of collective countermeasures (Art 54). The controversies inherent in this chapter concern, on the one hand, the circle of States that are entitled to take such measures and, on the other, the fear that there will be an overlap with the institutional powers of the Security Council under Chapter VII UN Charter.

Source

‘Countermeasures in Response to Grave Violations of Obligation Owed to the International Community’ in J Crawford et al (eds), The Law of International Responsibility (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010)