Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
ISSN
2161-7953
Publisher
American Society of International Law
Language
en-US
Abstract
Article 25 of the International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility defines necessity as a general “circumstance precluding wrongfulness” in the law of state responsibility. It has been adopted rapidly and almost uniformly, but with scant independent analysis, as a putative codification of international custom. This essay argues that with reference to the ILC mandate, the definition reflects far more “progressive development” than “codification” of general international law. It also questions the definition’s advisability, coherence, and normative appeal in theory and practice.
Recommended Citation
Robert D. Sloane,
On the Use and Abuse of Necessity in the Law of State Responsibility
,
in
106
American Journal of International Law
447
(2012).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/1646
