Prawo państwa do samoobrony w kontekście naruszenia syryjskiej przestrzeni powietrznej
The Right to Self-Defence in the Context of Syrian Airspace Violation

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to analyze criteria of the legitimate use of the armed force as the execution of the right to self-defence, listed in the international treaty and common laws, with an example of violation of the Syrian airspace on 22 June 2012 and actions taken as Syria’s response towards the country violating its airspace. To make this analysis it was assumed that the basic criteria of the legitimate use of the military force as the right to self-defence are: „the armed attack”, the obligation to immediately inform the UN Security Council about the attack by the defending country and the self-defence conducted in response, and the use of the armed force only by the time the Security Council undertakes necessary measures to keep international peace and security. Moreover, the use of the armed force must be necessary to provide self-defence - the so-called last resort criterion, the force used in response must remain proportional to the force of armed attack and employment of force within the self-defence must meet the humanitarian law principles. The analysis of particular criteria was made on the basis of the sequence of actions taken by the Turkish and Syrian sides and takes into account e.g. data on fl ight, as well as technical parameters of the RF-4E Phantom II aircraft which belongs to the Turkish Air Force, information on the place and time when the aircraft was shot down and possible weapons used to shoot it down, as well as statements of both engaged parties to the confl ict. Taking into account the fact that particular criteria of using the armed force as the selfdefence may not be analyzed separated from other criteria, and not taking into consideration the circumstances of the concrete case, the conclusion may be made that the airspace violation of the foreign country by a military aircraft, which is the violation of Art. 2 Para. 4 of the Charter, is not always „the armed attack” as defi ned in Art. 51 of this Charter. However, the analyzed factual fi ndings of delayed shooting down the non-combat aircraft, with no appropriate warning notice calling to leave the airspace or demanding immediate landing, does not meet criteria established by the international law to legitimately use of the armed force as the execution of the right to self-defence.

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