The Right to the Use of Force in Contemporary International Law Cover Image

Pravo na upotrebu sile u suvremenom međunarodnom pravu
The Right to the Use of Force in Contemporary International Law

Author(s): Davorin Lapaš
Subject(s): International Law, Security and defense, Military policy, Studies in violence and power, Sociology of Politics
Published by: Hrvatsko Filozofsko Društvo
Keywords: international law; aggression; unilateral use of force; self-defence; terrorism; war;

Summary/Abstract: In contemporary international law there is almost a universal consensus on the peremptory (ius cogens) character of the norm prohibiting the unilateral use of force, except in self-defence. This prohibition is contained both in the UN Charter, regional documents as well as in international customary law. However, the reality is often different. As a rule, States do not call into question the above-mentioned prohibition on the level of primary norms, but often attempt to introduce exceptions to this prohibition in the form of various secondary norms. This paper deals with some of these attempts directed to the extensive interpretation of self-defence, i.e. Art. 51 of the UN Charter.

  • Issue Year: 36/2016
  • Issue No: 04/144
  • Page Range: 659-678
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Croatian