Few undertakings of the International Law Commission have proved to be as controversial as its study of “International Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Acts not Prohibited by International Law”. Despite an encouraging initial report by a working group of the Commission on the suitability of the topic for codification and progressive development, the undertaking, once launched, immediately met with strong scepticism, at times outright rejection. It is true that over the last two years support for the Commission's work on the topic has grown appreciably both within and outside the Commission. However, detractors of the study remain strongly in evidence.