State Responsibility

The Articles on State Responsibility, adopted by the International Law Commission in 2001, are the primary source of international law governing state responsibility.

State responsibility arises when a state breaches an international obligation and causes damage to another state or its nationals.

A breach of an international obligation is a wrongful act that is attributable to a state. A wrongful act, on the other hand, is not necessarily attributable to a state and may not give rise to state responsibility.

The three main types of reparation for a breach of an international obligation are restitution, compensation, and satisfaction.

The principle of attribution in state responsibility holds that a state is responsible for the acts of its organs and officials.

The two main defenses to a claim of state responsibility are necessity and self-defense.

Necessity is a defense to a claim of state responsibility for an act that is otherwise wrongful, while self-defense is a defense to a claim of state responsibility for an act that is not otherwise wrongful.

The principle of proportionality in state responsibility holds that the measures taken by a state in response to a breach of an international obligation must be proportionate to the seriousness of the breach.

The principle of non-discrimination in state responsibility holds that a state must not discriminate between its own nationals and the nationals of other states, between different groups of its own nationals, or between different states in the application of its laws and regulations.

The principle of exhaustion of local remedies in state responsibility holds that a state must exhaust all available domestic remedies before it can bring a claim against another state for a breach of an international obligation.

The principle of diplomatic protection in state responsibility holds that a state has the right to protect its nationals against injuries suffered in another state, even if the injuries are caused by the acts of that state or by the acts of a private individual.

The principle of state immunity in state responsibility holds that a state is immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of another state, even if the state has consented to the jurisdiction or waived its immunity.

The exceptions to the principle of state immunity in state responsibility include commercial activities, maritime torts, and personal injuries.

The principle of universal jurisdiction in state responsibility holds that a state has the right to exercise jurisdiction over crimes that are considered to be of universal concern, regardless of where the crimes were committed, by whom they were committed, or against whom they were committed.