State's responsibility for international illicit acts

• Author: Floroiu Mihai Mihai
• Position: Lect. Univ. Dr. Floroiu Mihai, University of Craiova, Faculty of Law
• Pages: 4-8

STATE’S RESPONSIBILITY

FOR INTERNATIONAL ILLICIT ACTS

Floroiu Mihai

Abstract

International Law, as all other legal branches, needs a system able to guara ntee its

application and to sanction all entities that would violate applicable international regulations,

thus correcting also their possible effects. This is the system of interna tional juridical

responsibility of States or other international law subjects for international illicit acts.

Key words – State responsibility, international illicit act.

Introduction

The concept of responsibility is inherent to any legal system, „a necessary corollary of

law”1. Internationa l responsibility ha s been initially related only to States, as it appeared at a

moment when the international community was formed only by States. Once international

relations increased, allowing the creation of other kinds of international entities than States, this

institution started to apply both to States and to any other entities that function within the

international society, including individuals, provided they act as a subject of international law.

The International Law Commission drafted a series of conditions regarding this concept,

by diving it into five fundamental elements:

1. International illicit act as generating element – violation of an international law

regulation ;

2. Act imputable to a subject of international law;

3. Existence of a prejudice and a causality link between the act and the prejudice;

4. Prejudice suffered by another subject of international law;

5. Obligation to repair.

I. The International illicit act

By international illicit act one would understand any action or lack of action allotted to a

State and which represents a violation of an international law regulation, no matter of the origin2.

Despite this ambiguous definition of the international illicit act, its three elements result clearly

from it, as follows:

- Violation of international law;

- Act imputable to a State ;

- The illicit character of the act should not be eliminated by an exclusion circumstance.

With all this in mind, the most important aspect is that the international illicit act is

autonomous in relation to the internal law, its qualification being made solely by the

International Law3. Thus, the international illicit act is classified according to two distinct

criteria:

- according to the situation in time;

 Lect. univ. dr. Floroiu Mihai, University of Craiova, Faculty of Law, mihai.floroiu@gmail.com.

1 ICJ - Barcelona Traction case, 1970.

2CPJI : Fausse Fat case, 1938 (Morrocco) / Arbitral Court : Rainbow Warrior case, 1970 : „toute violation pa r un

Etat d’une obligation quelle que soit sa source engage sa Responsabilite Int ernationale”.

3Cf. Wimbledon case: „ Un a cte interne contra ire au Droit International ser a illicite en Droit Inter national

indépendamment de sa conformité au droit interne. Le fait international illicite est apprécié à l’égard du Droit

International”.