Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction to the fifth edition
- From the introduction to the first edition
- Table of cases
- Table of treaties
- Table of Security Council resolutions
- Table of General Assembly resolutions
- Abbreviations
- Part I The legal nature of war
- Part II The illegality of war
- Part III Exceptions to the prohibition of the use of inter-State force
- 7 The concept of self-defence
- 8 The modalities of individual self-defence
- 9 Collective self-defence
- 10 Collective security
- Conclusion
- Index of persons
- Index of subjects
- References
9 - Collective self-defence
from Part III - Exceptions to the prohibition of the use of inter-State force
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction to the fifth edition
- From the introduction to the first edition
- Table of cases
- Table of treaties
- Table of Security Council resolutions
- Table of General Assembly resolutions
- Abbreviations
- Part I The legal nature of war
- Part II The illegality of war
- Part III Exceptions to the prohibition of the use of inter-State force
- 7 The concept of self-defence
- 8 The modalities of individual self-defence
- 9 Collective self-defence
- 10 Collective security
- Conclusion
- Index of persons
- Index of subjects
- References
Summary
The four categories of collective self-defence
734. The phrase ‘individual or collective self-defence’, as used in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations (quoted supra 498), is not easily comprehensible. A close examination of the text, in light of the practice of States, shows that more than a simple dichotomy is involved. It seems necessary to distinguish between no less than four categories of self-defence: (i) individual self-defence individually exercised; (ii) individual self-defence collectively exercised; (iii) collective self-defence individually exercised; and (iv) collective self-defence collectively exercised.
Individual self-defence individually exercised
735. The first category represents the most straightforward implementation of the right of self-defence, and it has been dealt with in Chapter 8: Arcadia perpetrates an armed attack against Utopia, and in response Utopia invokes self-defence. This is a one-on-one forcible encounter, and the right of individual self-defence is exercised individually.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- War, Aggression and Self-Defence , pp. 278 - 302Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011