’Armed Attack’ and Article 51 of the UN Charter: Evolutions in Customary Law and Practice

616 Pages·2011·3.58 MB·English

by  Tom Ruys

‘ ’
ARMED ATTACK AND ARTICLE 51
OF THE UN CHARTER
This book examines to what extent the right of self-defence, as laid
downinArticle51oftheCharteroftheUnitedNations,permitsStates
to launch military operations against other States. In particular, it
focuses on the occurrence of an‘armedattack’ – the crucial trigger for
theactivationofthisright.Inlightofthedevelopmentssince9/11,the
authoranalysesrelevantphysicalandverbalcustomarypractice,ranging
from the 1974 Definition of Aggression to recent incidents such as the
2001USinterventioninAfghanistanandthe2006Israeliinterventionin
Lebanon. The notion of ‘armed attack’ is examined from a threefold
perspective.Whatactscanberegardedasan‘armedattack’?Whencan
an‘armedattack’beconsideredtotakeplace?Andfromwhommustan
‘armedattack’emanate?Bywayofconclusion,thedifferentfindingsare
broughttogetherinadraft‘DefinitionofArmedAttack’.
drtomruysisalawyerwithStibbe,Brussels,andaseniormemberof
theLeuvenCentreforGlobalGovernanceStudies.HealsoteachesPublic
International Law as a substitute lecturer at the Catholic University of
Leuven.

‘ ’
ARMED ATTACK AND
ARTICLE 51 OF THE UN
CHARTER: EVOLUTIONS
IN CUSTOMARY LAW
AND PRACTICE
TOM RUYS
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Ruys,Tom.“Armedattack”andArticle51oftheUNCharter:
customarylawandpractice/TomRuys.
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ISBN978-0-521-76664-7(hardback)
1. Self-defense(Internationallaw) 2. Aggression(Internationallaw)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgment pagex
Tableofabbreviationsandabbreviatedcitations xi
Selectedcaselaw,legislationandrelateddocuments xviii
Introduction 1
1 Themethodologicaldebateandthequestforcustom 6
1.1 Treatyvs.custom 7
1.1.1 TheCharterandpre-existingcustom 7
1.1.2 Theroleofcustomintreatyinterpretation
andmodification 19
1.2 Statepracticevs.opinioiuris 29
1.2.1 Introduction:themethodologicaldebate 29
1.2.2 Theevidentiaryweightofwords
anddeeds 31
1.2.3 Observationsconcerningthedensityofcustomary
practice 44
1.2.4 Conclusion 51
2 ‘Armedattack’andotherconditionsofself-defence 53
2.1 The‘armedattack’ requirementasanintegral
partofArticle51UNCharter 53
2.1.1 Self-preservationandself-defence
priorto1945 53
2.1.2 Article51UNCharter–primarymeans
ofinterpretation 55
2.1.3 ThepreparatoryworksoftheUNCharter 60
2.2 Otherconditionsofself-defence 68
2.2.1 ‘Procedural’obligations 68
2.2.2 Necessityandproportionality 91
vii
viii table of contents
3 The‘armedattack’requirementrationemateriae 126
3.1 Armedattackandaggression 127
3.1.1 Twosidesofthesamecoin 127
3.1.2 ThenegotiationswithintheFourthSpecialCommitteeonthe
QuestionofDefiningAggression(1968–74) 129
3.1.3 ValueoftheDefinitionofAggression 136
3.2 Generalfactorsdeterminingtheexistenceofan‘armed
attack’ 139
3.2.1 The‘mostgrave’formsoftheuseofforceand
thedeminimiscontroversy 139
3.2.2 The‘animusaggressionis’andaccumulation
ofevents 158
3.2.3 Connectingthedots:thepanoplyofscenarios
andtheroleofcontext 175
3.3 Small-scaleincursionsbyland,seaorair 184
3.4 AttacksagainstexternalmanifestationsoftheState 199
3.4.1 Militaryunitsandmilitaryinstallationsabroad 199
3.4.2 Embassiesanddiplomaticenvoys 201
3.4.3 Civilianaircraftandmerchantvessels 204
3.4.4 Protectionofnationals 213
4 The‘armedattack’requirementrationetemporis 250
4.1 Anticipatoryself-defence:thenever-endingsaga
(1945–2001) 255
4.1.1 Thedoctrinaldebate–abriefappraisal 255
4.1.2 Customaryprecedents:evidenceinconcreto 267
4.1.3 Customaryevidenceinabstracto 294
4.2 Theshockwavesof9/11 305
4.2.1 The2002USNationalSecurityStrategyandtheintervention
inIraqin2003 305
4.2.2 ShiftingpositionsofStatesandscholars:adefeatofpreventive
self-defenceattheexpenseofanembraceofpre-emptive
self-defence? 318
4.3 Exceptionsandborderlinecases 342
4.3.1 Theprospectivedimensionofthenecessitystandard 342
4.3.2 Possibleexceptions? 343
4.3.3 Interceptiveself-defenceatthetacticallevel:on-the-spot
reaction 346
table of contents ix
5 The‘armedattack’requirementrationepersonae 368
5.1 Indirectmilitaryaggressioninthe
decolonizationera 369
5.1.1 Formulationoftheproblem 369
5.1.2 Thedebateon‘indirectaggression’withintheFourthSpecial
CommitteeontheQuestionofDefiningAggression 382
5.1.3 Statepractice 394
5.1.4 IndirectaggressioninthewakeoftheICJ’sNicaragua
case 406
5.2 Self-defenceagainstnon-Stateactorsintheage
ofinternationalterrorismandStatefailure 419
5.2.1 Preludeto9/11:shiftingcontext,shiftingpractice? 419
5.2.2 9/11:awakeningtoanewsecurityenvironment 433
5.2.3 Customarypracticeafter9/11 447
5.2.4 TheresponseoftheInternationalCourtofJustice 472
5.2.5 Conclusion:cannon-Stateactorscommit‘armedattacks’? 485
6 Whatfutureforthe‘armedattack’criterion? 511
6.1 Thecustomaryboundariesofself-defence 511
6.1.1 Awordofcaution 511
6.1.2 ThecorrelationbetweenArticle51UNCharterandother
primaryorsecondaryrules,andthe‘pre-existingcustom’
paradigm 514
6.1.3 Preconditionsofindividualself-defenceotherthanthe‘armed
attack’requirement 517
6.1.4 Rationemateriae:thebasicingredientsofan
‘armedattack’ 520
6.1.5 The‘armedattack’rationetemporis 524
6.1.6 Rationepersonae:attacksbynon-Stateactorsand
therightofself-defence 528
6.1.7 Theslipperyslopeofself-defence 532
6.2 TowardsaUNGA‘DefinitionofArmedAttack’? 535
6.2.1 Resuminganancientproject 535
6.2.2 Ablueprint 539
6.2.3 Post-scriptum:strengtheningthecompliancepull
oftheIusadBellum 545
Index 551