Abstract
Although the prohibition on the use of force in international relations is widely codified in international law,1 there exist two exceptions by virtue of which the use of force may be justified.2 These exceptions are the use of force by the Security Council under Chapter VII in case of a “threat to peace, breach of peace and act of aggression,” and the right to use force under Article 51 in individual or collective self-defense.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Dinstein, Yoram, War, Aggression and Self-Defense (New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994), pp. 175, 178.
Schachter, Oscar, “Self-Defense and the Rule of Law,” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 83, 1989, p. 259.
Bowett, Derek W. Self-Defense in International Law (New York: Praeger, 1958), p. 4.
Dinstein, Yoram, War, Aggression and Self-Defense (New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994), p. 179.
Brownlie, Ian, International Law and the Use of Force by States (Oxford University Press, 1963), p. 252.
For example, 1) Israel-Egypt (1956), 2) OAS-Dominican Republic (1960), 3) Israel-Lebanon (1982), 4) US-Nicaragua (1980–1986), 5) Turkey-Iraq (1995). See, Thomas M. Franck, Recourse to Force: State Action Against Threats and Armed Attacks (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 53–68.
For example, Israel-Argentina (1960), India-Portugal (1961), Turkey-Cyprus (1974), Morocco (Mauritania)-Spain (1975), Indonesia-East-Timor (1975), Argentina-UK (Malvinas/Falklands) (1982), India-Bangladesh (1971), Tanzania-Uganda (1978), Vietnam-Kampuchea (1978–79), France-Central African Empire (1979), France, UK, US — Iraq (the Kurds, 1991), ECOMOG-Liberia, Sierra Leone (1989–1999), NATO-Yugoslavia (Kosovo) (1999). See Thomas M. Franck, Recourse to Force: State Action Against Threats and Armed Attacks (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 109–173. Quote from Franck, p. 52.
Thomas M. Franck, “Who Killed Article 2 (4)? Or Changing Norms Governing the Use of Force by States,” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 64, No. 4, October 1970, pp. 809–837, pp. 820–821.
For further readings, see Nuclear Weapons Opinion [1996] 1 I.C.J. Rep. 226, Manfred Mohr, “Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Use of Nuclear Weapons Under International Law — A Few Thoughts on its Strengths and Weaknesses” (1997) 316 International Review of the Red Cross, 92, 94, Eric David, “The Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Use of Nuclear Weapons” (1997) 316 International Review of the Red Cross 21, Luigi Condorelli, “Nuclear Weapons: A Weighty Matter for the International Court of Justice” (1997) 316 International Review of the Red Cross, 9, 11, Christopher Greenwood, “Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello in the Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion” in Laurence Boisson de Chazoumes and Phillipe Sands (eds), International Law, the International Court of Justice and Nuclear Weapons (1999) 247, 249, Christopher Greenwood, “The Advisory Opinion on Nuclear Weapons and the Contribution of the International Court to International Humanitarian Law” (1997) 316 International Review of the Red Cross 65, John McNeill, “The International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion in the Nuclear Weapons Cases — A First Appraisal” (1997) 316 International Review of the Red Cross 103, 117, Ann Fagan Ginger, “Looking at the United Nations through the Prism of National Peace Law,” 36(2) UN Chronicle 62 (Summer 1999), Mike Moore, “World Court Says Mostly No to Nuclear Weapons,” 52(5) Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 39 (Sept-Oct 1996), Douglas Holdstock and Lis Waterston, “Nuclear Weapons, a Continuing Threat to Health,” 355(9214) The Lancet 1544 (29 April 2000).
Jennings, R.Y. (1938) “The Caroline and McLeod Cases,” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 82–99, p. 89.
R. Jennings QC and A. Watts QC (eds), Oppenheim’s International Law, Ninth Edition (Pearsons Higher Education, 1992), pp. 41–42.
Maxon, Richard G., “Nature’s Eldest Law: A Survey of a Nation’s Right to Act in Self-Defense,” Parameters Online, US Army War College Quarterly, Autumn 1995, pp. 55–68.
Bowett, Derek W., Self-Defense in International Law (New York: Praeger, 1958), p. 35.
Brownlie, Ian, International Law and the Use of Force by States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963), p. 262.
Beres Louis Rene, “Where the Shadow Really Falls: Why Israel Must Have Nuclear Weapons,” The Brown Journal of World Affairs. Winter/Spring, Vol. IV, Issue I, 1997, p. 133.
Brownlie, Ian, International Law and the Use of Force by States, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963, p. 259.
Bowett, Derek W., Self-Defense in International Law (New York: Praeger, 1958), pp. 23–25.
Dinstein, Yoram, War, Aggression and Self-Defense (New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994), pp. 193–267.
Thomas M. Franck, Recourse to Force: State Action Against Threats and Armed Attacks (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 75.
Arend, Anthony Clark and Robert J. Beck International Law and the Use of Force (Routledge Publishers, 1993), p. 73.
Quigley, John, “Israel’s Destruction of Iraq’s Nuclear Reactor: A Reply,” Temple International and Comparative Law Journal, Vol. 9, Number 2, 1995, p. 444.
Thomas M. Franck, Recourse to Force: State Action Against Threats and Armed Attacks (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 101.
Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations (Basic Books, 1977), pp. 82–85.
Thomas M. Franck, Recourse to Force: State Action Against Threats and Armed Attacks (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 102.
See Anthony D’Amato, “Israel’s Air Strike Upon the Iraqi Nuclear Reactor,” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 77, No. 3 (Jul. 1983), pp. 584–588.
Benett Ramberg, “Attacks on Nuclear Reactors: The Implications of Israel’s Strike on Osiraq,” Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 97, No. 4 (Winter 1982–1983), pp. 653–669, p. 653.
Shai Feldman, “The Bombing of Osiraq — Revisited,” International Security, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Autumn 1982), pp. 114–142, p. 115.
Yehuda Blum, UN Doc. No. S/PV.2280, June 12, 1981, p. 16. Quoted in Anthony Clark Arend, “International Law and the Preemptive Use of Military Force,” The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 2, Spring 2003, pp. 89–103; p. 95.
Ha’aretz (Israel), June 09, 1981, quoted in Shai Feldman, “The Bombing of Osiraq — Revisited,” International Security, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Autumn 1982), pp. 114–142, p. 122.
Jerusalem, Government Press Office, December 15, 1981, Quoted in Ha’aretz (Israel), June 09, 1981, Quoted in Shai Feldman, “The Bombing of Osiraq — Revisited,” International Security, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Autumn 1982), pp. 114–142, p. 122.
Thomas M. Franck, “Who Killed Article 2 (4)? Or Changing Norms Governing the Use of Force by States,” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 64, No. 4, October 1970, pp. 809–837, pp. 820–21, P. 821.
Louis Henkin, “The Reports of the Death of Article 2 (4) are Greatly Exaggerated,” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 65, No. 3. July 1971, pp. 544–548, p. 544.
Louis Henkin, “The Reports of the Death of Article 2 (4) are Greatly Exaggerated,” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 65, No. 3. July 1971, pp. 544–548, p. 544.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2009 Ruchi Anand
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Anand, R. (2009). International Legal Exceptions to the Prohibition on the Use of Force. In: Self-Defense in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230245747_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230245747_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-36537-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-24574-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)