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Mr. Said Mahmoudi

Mr. Said Mahmoudi
Professor of International Law
Stockholm University

Biography Biography in PDF

Peace and Security
Self-Defence
Self-Defence and
“Unwilling or Unable” States
(Part I)
Video | Audio
(15/6/2022, 47 minutes)

Self-Defence and
“Unwilling or Unable” States
(Part II)
Video | Audio
(15/6/2022, 49 minutes)

Self-Defence and
“Unwilling or Unable” States
(Part III)
Video | Audio
(15/6/2022, 42 minutes)
Peace and Security
Self-Defence
Self-Defense and "Unwilling or Unable" States
A. Legal Instruments

Charter of the United Nations and Statute of the International Court of Justice San Francisco, 26 June 1945.

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Rome, 17 July 1998, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, p. 3.

African Union Non-Aggression and Common Defence Pact, Abuja, 1 January 2005, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2656, p. 285.

B. Jurisprudence

International Court of Justice, Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Merits, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1986, p. 14.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Dúško Tadić, Judgement of 15 July 1999, IT-94-1-A.

International Court of Justice, Oil Platforms (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2003, p. 161.

International Court of Justice, Oil Platforms (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America), Separate Opinion of Judge Simma, I.C.J. Reports 2003, p. 324.

International Court of Justice, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 136.

International Court of Justice, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Separate opinion of Judge Kooijmans, I.C.J. Reports 2004, p. 219.

International Court of Justice, Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2005, p. 168.

International Court of Justice, Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), Separate opinion of Judge Simma, I.C.J. Reports 2005, p. 334.

International Court of Justice, Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), Declaration by Judge Koroma, I.C.J. Reports 2005, p. 284.

International Court of Justice, Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2007, p. 43.

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (BVerfG), Order of the Second Senate of 17 September 2019 - 2 BvE 2/16, paras. 1-55, 17 September 2019.

C. Documents

General Assembly Resolution 2131 (XX) of 21 December 1965 (Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of Their Independence and Sovereignty).

General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970 (The Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations).

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974 (Definition of Aggression).

International Law Commission, Draft articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, with commentaries, 2001 (A/56/10, reproduced in Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 2001, vol. II, Part Two, as corrected).

Security Council resolution 1368 (2001) of 12 September 2001.

Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) of 28 September 2001.

Letter dated 7 October 2001 from the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, 7 October 2001 (S/2001/946).

Final Communique, The Ninth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, Doha, 10 October 2001.

Letter dated 31 July 2002 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, 31 July 2002 (S/2002/854).

President G.W. Bush, The National Security Strategy, The White House, September 2002.

Security Council resolution 1465 (2003) of 13 February 2003.

General Assembly resolution 60/1 of 16 September 2005 (2005 World Summit Outcome), para. 134.

Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) of 11 August 2006.

General Assembly, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, UN Doc. A/68/389, 18 September 2013.

Letter dated 20 September 2014 from the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, 20 September 2014 (S/2014/691).

Letter dated 23 September 2014 from the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, United States, 23 September 2014 (S/2014/695).

Letter dated 24 July 2015 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, 24 July 2015 (S/2015/563).

Letter dated 9 September 2015 from the Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, Australia, 9 September 2015 (S/2015/693).

United Nations Security Council resolution 2249 (2015) of 20 November 2015.

Letter dated 10 December 2015 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, 10 December 2015 (S/2015/946).

President R. T. Erdoğan, Statement on the terrorist attack in the Kızılay neighborhood of Ankara, Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, 17 February 2016.

Letter dated 7 June 2016 from the Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, 7 June 2016 (S/2016/523).

17th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement, Final Document, Island of Margarita, 17 - 18 September 2016.

Université Libre de Bruxelles International Law Centre, A plea against the abusive invocation of self-defence as a response to terrorism (updated 6 October 2016).

President B. Obama, Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding the United States' Use of Military Force and Related National Security Operations, The White House, December 2016.

Security Council, “Upholding the Collective Security System of the UN Charter - Security Council Open Arria Formula Meeting”, United Nations Audiovisual Library, 24 February 2021.

D. Doctrine

D. Ahmed, “Defending Weak States Against the ‘Unwilling or Unable’ Doctrine of Self-Defense”, Journal of International Law and International Relations, vol. 9, 2013, pp. 1-46.

L. Arimatsu, and M. Schmitt, “Attacking Islamic State and the Khorasan Group: Surveying the International Law Landscape”, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law Bulletin, vol. 54, 2014, pp. 1-29.

K. Bannelier-Christakis, “Military Interventions against ISIL in Iraq, Syria and Libya, and the Legal Basis of Consent”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 29, 2016, pp. 743-775.

R. P. Branidge, Non-State Actors and Terrorism: Applying the Law of State Responsibility and the Due Diligence Principle, TMC Asser Press, The Hague, 2008.

A. Becker Lorca, “Rules for the ‘Global War on Terror’: Implying Consent and Presuming Conditions for Intervention”, International Law and Politics, vol. 45, 2012, pp. 1-95.

D. Bethlehem, “Self-Defense against an Imminent or Actual Armed Attack by Non-State Actors”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 106, 2012, pp. 770-777.

G. Blum, and J. C. Goldberg, “The Unable or Unwilling Doctrine: A View from Private Law”, Harvard International Law Journal, vol. 63, 2022, pp. 63-134. Harvard International Law Journal, vol. 63, 2022, pp. 63-134.

J. Brunée, Jutta and S. J. Troope, “Self-Defence against Non-State Actors: Are Powerful States Willing but Unable to Change International Law?”, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, vol. 67, 2018, pp. 263-286.

E. Chachko, and A. Deeks, “Who is on Board with ‘Unwilling or Unable’?”, Lawfare blog, 10 October 2016.

J. Charney, “Anticipatory Humanitarian Intervention in Kosovo”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 93, 1999, pp. 834-841.

T. Christakis, “Challenging the ‘Unwilling or Unable’ Test”, Heidelberg Journal of International Law, vol. 77, 2017, pp. 19-22.

O. Corten, « La ‘guerre antiterroriste’, un discours de pouvoir », Le discours du droit international, pour un positivisme critique, Pedone, Paris, 2009.

O. Corten, Le droit contre la guerre, 2nd ed., Pedone, Paris, 2014.

O. Corten, The Law Against War: The Prohibition on the Use of Force in Contemporary International Law, Hart Publishing, London, 2010.

O. Corten, “The Military Operations Against the ‘Islamic State’ (Da’ esh) – 2014”, in T. Ruys and O. Corten (eds.), The Use of Force in International Law: A Case-based Approach, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018, pp. 873-898.

O. Corten, “The ‘Unwilling or Unable’ Test: Has It Been, and Could It Be Accepted?”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 29, 2016, pp. 777-799.

O. Corten, « Vers une reconfiguration de la notion de légitime défense ? », Revue belge de droit international, vol. 49, 2016, pp. 31-67.

A. Deeks, “‘Unwilling or Unable’: Toward Normative Framework for Extraterritorial Self-Defense”, Virginia Journal of International Law, vol. 52, 2012, pp. 483-550.

A. De Hoogh, “Restrictivist Reasoning on the Ratione Personae Dimension of Armed Attacks in the Post 9/11 World”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 29, 2016, pp. 19-42.

Y. Dinstein, War, Aggression and Self-Defence, 6th ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017.

T. Gazzini, The Changing Rules on the Use of Force in International Law, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2006.

C. Gray, International Law and the Use of Force, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018.

J. Green, The International Court of Justice and Self-Defence in International Law, Hart Publishing, London, 2009.

M. Hakimi, “Defensive Force against Non-State Actors: The State of Play”, International Law Studies, vol. 91, 2015, pp. 1-31.

R. Kolb, International Law on the Maintenance of Peace – Jus Contra Bellum, Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton, 2018.

R. Kolb, Ius contra bellum, Le Droit international relative au maintien de la paix internationale, 2nd ed., Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, 2009.

M. Kowalski, “Armed Attack, Non-state Actors and A Quest for the Attribution Standard”, Polish Yearbook of International Law, vol. 30, 2010, pp. 110-130.

C. Kreß, “The International Court of Justice and the ‘Principle of Non-Use of Force’’’ in M. Weller (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Use of Force in International Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015, pp. 561-604.

N. Lubell, Extraterritorial Use of Force against Non-State Actors, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010.

N. Lubell, “Fragmented Wars: Multi-Territorial Military Operations against Armed Groups”, International Law Studies, vol. 93. 2017, pp. 215 -250.

L. Moir, Reappraising the Resort to Force: International Law, Jus ad Bellum, and the War on Terror, Hart Publishing, London, 2010.

M. E. O’Connell, “Dangerous Departures”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 107, 2013, pp. 380-386.

A. Orakhelashvili, “Changing Jus Cogens through State Practice? The Case of the Prohibition of the Use of Force and Its Exceptions”, in M. Weller (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Use of Force in International Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015, pp. 157-175.

T. Reinold, “State Weakness, Irregular Warfare, and the Right to Self-Defense Post 9/11”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 105, 2011, pp. 244 - 286.

T. Ruys, ‘Armed Attack’ and Article 51 of the UN Charter – Evolution in Customary International Law and Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010.

N. Schrijver and L. van den Herik, “Leiden Policy Recommendations on Counter-Terrorism and International Law”, Netherlands International Law Review, vol. 57, September 2010, pp. 531 – 550.

N. Shah, “The ‘Unwilling’ and ‘Unable’ Test in International Law: The Use of Force against Non-State Actors in Pakistan and Afghanistan”, Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, vol. 4, 2020, pp. 109-138.

P. Starski, “Right to Self-Defense, Attribution and the Non-State Actor: Birth of the ‘Unable or Unwilling’ Standard?”, Heidelberg Journal of International law, vol. 75, 2015, pp. 456-502.

C. Tams, “The Use of Force against Terrorists”, European Journal of International Law, vol. 20, 2009, pp. 359-397.

K. Trapp, “Back to Basics: Necessity, Proportionality, and the Right of Self-Defence against Non-State Terrorist Actors”, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, vol. 56, 2007, pp. 141-156.

N. Tsagourias, “Self-Defence against Non-state Actors: The Interaction between Self-Defence as a Primary Rule and Self-Defence as a Secondary Rule”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 29, 2016, pp. 801-825.

R. Van Steenberghe, “The Law of Self-Defence and the New Argumentative Landscape on the Expansionists' Side”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 29, 2016, pp. 43-65.

G. Wettberg, The International Legality of Self-defense against Non-State Actors – Practice from the UN Charter to the Present, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, Bern, 2007.

G. Williams, “Piercing the Shield of Sovereignty: An Assessment of the Legal Status of the ‘Unwilling or Unable’ Test”, University of New South Wales Law Journal, vol. 36, 2013, pp. 619 – 641.

E. Wilmshurst, “The Chatham House Principles of International Law on the Use of Force in Self-Defence”, The International and comparative law quarterly, vol. 55, 2006, pp. 963-972.