A PLEA AGAINST THE ABUSIVE INVOCATION OF SELF DEFENSE AS A RESPONSE TO TERRORISM

A plea against the abusive invocation of self-defence as a response to terrorism

For several years now, the number of terrorist attacks has been on the rise, including in Western countries. Many have equated these attacks with acts of war, requiring an immediate reaction in self-defence by States using military force, either individually or collectively in coalitions set up for that purpose. Thus, numerous military interventions have been conducted in the name of self-defence, including against Al Qaeda, ISIS or affiliated groups. While some have downplayed these precedents on account of their exceptional nature, there is a serious risk of self-defence becoming an alibi, used systematically to justify the unilateral launching of military operations around the world. Without opposing the use of force against terrorist groups as a matter of principle — particularly in the current context of the fight against ISIS — we, international law professors and scholars, consider this invocation of selfdefence to be problematic. In fact, international law provides for a range of measures to fight terrorism. Priority should be given to these measures before invoking self-defence.

Firstly, we consider that terrorism raises above all the challenge of prosecution and trial of individuals who commit acts of terrorism. A variety of legal tools are available in this respect. They relate first and foremost to police and judicial cooperation (chiefly through agencies such as INTERPOL or EUROPOL), aiming both at punishing those responsible for the crimes committed and preventing future occurrence of such crimes. Although there is certainly room for improvement, this cooperation has often proved effective in dismantling networks, thwarting attacks, and arresting the perpetrators of such attacks. By embracing from the outset the « war against terrorism » and « self-defence » paradigms and declaring a state of emergency, there is a serious risk of trivializing, neglecting, or ignoring ordinary peacetime legal processes.

Secondly, in cases where these ordinary criminal mechanisms must be complemented by military measures, we believe that the first option must remain dialogue between all concerned States. Before launching a military operation in a foreign State, the territory of which is used by a terrorist group, it is essential to try to enter into discussions with the government of that State. From a legal point of view, diplomatic discussions limited to the fight against terrorism in no way preclude criticism of the government’s policies or even calling into question its stay in power. Moreover, they do not exclude strong condemnation of all violations of international humanitarian law regardless of their perpetrators.

Thirdly, it should be recalled that, according to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the maintenance of international peace and security rests first and foremost with the Security Council. The Council has qualified international terrorism as a threat to the peace on numerous occasions. Therefore, aside from cases of emergency leaving no time to seize the UN, it must remain the Security Council’s primary responsibility to decide, coordinate and supervise acts of collective security. Confining the task of the Council to adopting ambiguous resolutions of an essentially diplomatic nature, as was the case with the passing of resolution 2249 (2015) relating to the fight against ISIS, is an unfortunate practice. Instead, the role of the Council must be enhanced in keeping with the letter and spirit of the Charter, thereby ensuring a multilateral approach to security.

Fourthly, it is only if —and as long as— the Security Council has not adopted the measures necessary for maintaining international peace and security that self-defence may be invoked to justify a military intervention against a terrorist group. In accordance with article 51 of the Charter, the use of force in self-defence on the territory of another State is only lawful if that State bears responsibility for a violation of international law tantamount to an “armed attack”. This may occur either where acts of war perpetrated by a terrorist group can be attributed to the State, or by virtue of a substantial involvement of that State in the actions of such groups. In certain circumstances, such involvement may result from the existence of a direct link between the relevant State and the group. However, the mere fact that, despite its efforts, a State is unable to put an end to terrorist activities on its territory is insufficient to justify bombing that State’s territory without its consent. Such an argument finds no support either in existing legal instruments or in the case law of the International Court of Justice. Accepting this argument entails a risk of grave abuse in that military action may henceforth be conducted against the will of a great number of States under the sole pretext that, in the intervening State’s view, they were not sufficiently effective in fighting terrorism.

Finally, self-defence should not be invoked before considering and exploring other available options in the fight against terrorism. The international legal order may not be reduced to an interventionist logic similar to that prevailing before the adoption of the United Nations Charter. The purpose of the Charter was to substitute a multilateral system grounded in cooperation and the enhanced role of law and institutions for unilateral military action. It would be tragic if, acting on emotion in the face of terrorism (understandable as this emotion may be), that purpose were lost.

List of signatures (as to July 22, 2016)

1. Ricardo ABELLO GALVIS, Professeur, Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombie) 2. Georges ABI SAAB, professeur honoraire, Institut de Hautes études internationales et du développement 3. Carmen Gina ACHIMESCU, Assistant Professor, University of Bucharest 4. Boutheina AJROUD SABRI, Maître de conférences, Université de Carthage 5. Shin-ichi AGO, Professor, University of Ritsumeikan 6. Denis ALLAND, Professeur, Université de Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas 7. Niki ALOUPI, Professeure, Université de Strasbourg 8. Philip ALSTON, Professor, New York University 9. Julien ANCELIN, Maître de conférence, Université de Bordeaux 10. Paz ANDRES SAENZ DE SANTAMARIA, Catedrática, Universidad de Oviedo 11. Nicolas ANGELET, Professeur, Université libre de Bruxelles 12. Tony ANGHIE, Professor, University of Utah 13. Donald K. ANTON, Professor, Griffith University (Australia) 14. Constantine ANTONOPOULOS, Associate Professor, Democritus University of Thrace 15. Charalambis APOSTOLIDIS, Professeur, Université de Bourgogne FrancheComté 16. Walter AREVALO-RAMIREZ, Professor, Universidad del Rosario 17. Jean D’ASPREMONT, Professor, University of Manchester & University of Amsterdam 18. Alessandra ASTERITI, Professor, Leuphana University (Germany) 19. Mariano AZNAR, Catedrática, Universidad Jaume I 20. Rémi BACHAND, Professeur, Université du Québec, Montréal 21. Louis BALMOND, Professeur, Université de Toulon 22. Karine BANNELIER, Maître de Conférences HDR, Université Grenoble Alpes 23. Rafâa BEN ACHOUR, Juge, Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples 24. Ilias BANTEKAS, Professor, Brunel University London 25. Paolo BARGIACCHI, Professor, Kore University of Enna (Italy) 26. Marie-Laure BASILIEN-GAINCHE, Professeure, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 27. Dr Annyssa BELLAL, Lecturer, Sciences Po Paris 28. Haykal BEN MAHFOUDH, Professeur, Université de Carthage 29. Nadia BERNAZ, Senior Lecturer, Middlesex University London 30. Abdelwahab BIAD, Maitre de conférences HDR, Université de Rouen 31. Christina BINDER, Professor, Universität Wien 32. Marion BLONDEL, Maître de conférence, Université de Bordeaux 33. Pierre BODEAU-LIVINEC, Professeur, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense 34. Nicolas BOEGLIN, Professeur, Universidad de Costa Rica 35. Nerina BOSCHIERO, Dean of the Law Faculty, Università degli Studi di Milano 36. Michael BOTHE, Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt 37. Mouloud BOUMGHAR, Professeur, Université de Picardie 38. Susan BREAU, Professor, Professor, University of Reading 39. Antonis BREDINAS, Professeur émérite, University of Athens 40. Eva BREMS, Professeure, Ghent University 41. Wladimir BRITO, Professeur, Université du Minho (Portugal) 42. Bruce BROOMHALL, Professeur, Université du Québec à Montréal 43. Emiliano J. BUIS, Profesor adjunto, Universidad de Buenos Aires 44. Michael BYERS, Professor, University of British Columbia 45. Enzo CANNIZZARO, Professore ordinario, Università di Roma "La Sapienza" 46. Jorge CARDONA, Catedrática, Universidad de Valencia 47. Tony CARTY, Professor, Tsinghua University Law School Beijing 48. Julien CAZALA, Maître de conférences HDR, Université d’Orléans 49. Ludovic CHAN-TUNG, Maître de conférences, Université Grenoble Alpes 50. Vincent CHAPAUX, Professeur, Université libre de Bruxelles 51. Hilary CHARLESWORTH, Professor, Australian National University 52. Monique CHEMILLIER-GENDREAU, Professeure émérite, Université Paris Diderot 53. Théodore CHRISTAKIS, Professeur, Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut Universitaire de France 54. Carolina de Abreu Batista CLARO, Professor, International Relations Institute, University of Brasília 55. Luigi CONDORELLI, Professeur, Université de Florence ; Professeur honoraire, Université de Genève 56. Aristoteles CONSTANTINIDES, Assistant Professor, University of Cyprus 57. Olivier CORTEN, Professeur, Université libre de Bruxelles 58. Eric CORTHAY, Assistant Professor, Bahrain Polytechnic 59. Charles-Emmanuel COTE, Professeur, Université Laval 60. Claire CREPET DAIGREMONT, Maître de conférences, Université de Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas 61. Florian COUVEINHES MATSUMOTO, Maître de conférences, Ecole normale supérieure (Ulm) 62. Eric DAVID, Professeur émérite, Université libre de Bruxelles 63. Sérgio Roberto DE ABREU, Professor, Universidade Luterana do Brasil 64. Géraud DE LA PRADELLE, Professeur émérite, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense 65. Rui Aurelio DE LACERDA BADAR, Coordenador da Escola de Direito Internacional, Academia Brasileira de Direito Internacional 66. Arnaud DE NANTEUIL, Professeur, Université Paris Est-Créteil 67. Thaís DE OLIVEIRA, Professeure, Institut Federal de São Paulo 68. Olivier DE SCHUTTER, Professeur, Université catholique de Louvain 69. Kaouthar DEBBECHE, Maître de conférences, Université de Carthage 70. Barbara DELCOURT, Professeure, Université libre de Bruxelles 71. Cristian DELPIANO, Associate Professor, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile 72. Christophe DEPREZ, Maître de conférences, Université de Liège 73. Delphine DESCHAUX DUTARD, Maître de conférences, Université Grenoble Alpes 74. Giovanni DISTEFANO, Professeur, Université de Neuchâtel 75. Frederik DHONDT, Professor, VUB/UGent-FWO 76. Daniel DORMOY, Professeur émérite, Université PARIS-Sud/Paris-Saclay 77. Emmanuella DOUSSIS, Associate Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens 78. Maria Luísa DUARTE, Professeure, Université de Lisbonne 79. Laurence DUBIN, Professeure, Université de Paris VIII 80. François DUBUISSON, Professeur, Université libre de Bruxelles 81. Geneviève DUFOUR, Professeure, Université de Sherbrooke 82. Cynthia EID, Academic Consultant, Université de Montréal 83. Marina EUDES, Maître de conférence, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense 84. Diego P. FERNANDEZ ARROYO, Professeur, Ecole de droit de Sciences Po Paris 85. Julian FERNANDEZ, Professeur, Université Paris 2 Panthéon Assas 86. Thibaut FLEURY GRAFF, Professeur, Université Rennes 1 87. Moustafa FOUAD, Professor, Tanta University, Egypt 88. Isabelle FOUCHARD, Chercheuse CNRS, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne 89. Erik FRANCKX, Vrije Universiteit Brussel 90. Duncan FRENCH, University of Lincoln, UK 91. Martin GALLIE, Professeur, Université du Québec à Montréal 92. Laura Victoria GARCIA-MATAMOROS, Professeure, Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá – Colombie) 93. Thierry GARCIA, Professeur, Université Grenoble Alpes 94. Albane GESLIN, Professeure, Science Po Lyon 95. Ghazi GHERAIRI, Enseignant, Université de Carthage 96. Habib GHERARI, Professeur, Université d’Aix-Marseille 97. Christine GRAY, Professor, University of Cambridge 98. James A. GREEN, Professor, University of Reading 99. Délber Andrade GRIBEL LAGE, Professor, PUC Minas (Brazil) 100. Julia GRIGNON, Professeure adjointe, Université Laval 101. Hajer GUELDICH, Professeure agrégée, Université de Carthage 102. Nabil HAJJAMI, Maître de conférences, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense 103. Antenor HALLO DE WOLF, Assistant Professor, University of Groningen (The Netherlands) 104. Salwa HAMROUNI, Professeure, Université de Carthage 105. Sarah HEATHCOTE, Associate Professor, Australian National University 106. Mamadou HEBIE, Assistant Professor, Université de Leiden 107. Christian HENDERSON, Professor, University of Sussex 108. Kevin JON HELLER, Professor, SOAS, University of London 109. Etienne HENRY, Chargé d’enseignement, Université de Neuchâtel 110. Carlos-Miguel HERRERA, Professeur, Université de Cergy-Pontoise 111. Massimo IOVANE, Professore, Federico II University of Naples 112. Mirta Raquel IPPOLITI, Professor Adjunta Derecho Internacional Público, Universidad de la República (Uruguay) 113. Shawan JABARIN, Professeur vacataire, Université de Birzeit 114. Carlos JIMENEZ PIERNAS, Catedrática, Universidad de Alcalá (Madrid) 115. Sarah JOSEPH, Professor, Monash University (Australia) 116. Ioannis KALPOUZOS, Lecturer, City University London 117. Jörg KAMMERHOFER, Professor, University of Freibourg (Germany) 118. Maurice KAMTO, Professeur, Université de Yaoundé II 119. Joseph KAZADI MPIANA, Professeur associé, Université de Lubumbashi (R.D.Congo) 120. Yann KERBRAT, Professeur, Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) 121. Rahim KHERAD, Professeur émérite, Université d’Angers 122. Jan KLABBERS, Professor, University of Helsinki 123. Pierre KLEIN, Professeur, Université libre de Bruxelles 124. Robert KOLB, Professeur, Université de Genève 125. Martti KOSKENNIEMI, Professor, University of Helsinki 126. Vaios KOUTROULIS, Professeur, Université libre de Bruxelles 127. Noura KRIDIS, Professeure, Université de Carthage 128. Nico KRISCH, Professor, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) 129. George D. KYRIAKOPOULOS, Lecturer, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens 130. Anne LAGERWALL, Professeure, Université libre de Bruxelles 131. Slim LAGHMANI, Professeur, Université de Tunis 132. Philippe LAGRANGE, Professeur, Université de Poitiers 133. Davorin LAPAS, Professor, University of Zagreb 134. Franck LATTY, Professeur, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense 135. Sabine LAVOREL, Maître de Conférences HDR, Université Grenoble Alpes 136. Yves LE BOUTHILLIER, Professeur, Université d’Ottawa 137. Marco LONGOBARDO, Adjunct Professor, University of Messina 138. Mohamed LIMAM, Maître-assistant, Université de Sousse 139. Sarra MAAOUIA, Maître de conférences, Université de Carthage 140. Ahmed MAHIOU, Directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS, Université d’AixMarseille 141. Rafaëlle MAISON, Professeure, Université de Paris Sud 142. Catherine MAIA, Professeure, Université Lusófona de Porto (Portugal) 143. Sandrine MALJEAN-DUBOIS, Directrice de recherche CNRS, Université d’AixMarseille 144. Auguste MAMPUYA, Professeur, Université de Kinshasa 145. Pacifique MANIRAKIZA, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa 146. Itamar MANN, Professor, University of Haifa (Israel) 147. Jean-Christophe MARTIN, Professeur, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis 148. Anne-Charlotte MARTINEAU, Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute Luxembourg 149. Wafa MASMOUDI, Professeure, Université de Carthage 150. Jean MATRINGE, Professeur, Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne 151. Makane Moïse MBENGUE, Professeur, Université de Genève 152. Frédéric MEGRET, Professor, McGill University 153. Khaled MEJRI, Maître de conférences, Université de Carthage 154. Luciano Meneguetti, Professor, Centro Universitário Toledo, Araçatuba/SP, Brazil 155. Panos MERKOURIS, Assistant Professor, University of Groningen 156. Mehdi MEZAGUER, Maître de conférences, Université Nice Sophia-Antipolis 157. Anne MILLET-DEVALLE, Maître de conférences HDR, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis 158. Ivon MINGASHANG, Professeur, Université de Kinshasa 159. Mohamed Mahmoud MOHAMED SALAH, Professeur, Université de Nouakchott 160. Djamchid MOMTAZ, Professeur, Université de Téhéran 161. Isabelle MOULIER, Maître de conférences, Université d’Auvergne 162. Pablo MOSCOSO DE LA CUBA, Docente de la Facultad de Derecho, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru 163. Horatia MUIR WATT, Professeure, Sciences Po Paris 164. Valère NDIOR, Maître de conférences, Université de Toulouse 165. Raffaella NIGRO, Associate Professor, University Magna Græcia of Catanzaro 166. Maki NISHIUMI, Professor, Chuo University (Japan) 167. Anne-Thida NORODOM, Professeure, Université de Rouen 168. Gérard NYIUNGEKO, Professeur, Université du Burundi (Bujumbura) 169. Mary Ellen O’CONNELL, Professor, University of Notre Dame (USA) 170. Roger O’KEEFE, Professor, University College London 171. Yasuaki ONUMA, Professor, University of Tokyo 172. Anne ORFORD, Professor, University of Melbourne 173. Paolo PALCHETTI, Professeur, Università di Macerata 174. David PAVOT, Chargé de cours, Université de Sherbrooke (Canada) 175. Mehrdad PAYANDEH, Professor, University of Duesseldorf 176. Jeremy PERELMAN, Professeur, Sciences Po Paris 177. Xavier PHILIPPE, Professeur, Université d’Aix-Marseille 178. Mónica PINTO, Professeure, Universidad de Buenos Aires 179. Ioannis PREZAS, Maître de conférences HDR, Université Paris 1 PanthéonSorbonne 180. Mario PROST, Senior Lecturer, Keele University 181. René PROVOST, Professeur, McGill University 182. Aurélien RACCAH, Enseignant-chercheur à l'Université Catholique de Lille 183. Balakrishnan RAJAGOPAL, Associate Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) 184. Antonio REMIRO BROTONS, Professeur, Universidad autonoma de Madrid 185. Juan Manuel RIVERO GODOY, Profesor ayudante, Universidad de la República, (Uruguay) 186. François ROCH, Professeur, Université du Québec du Montréal 187. Ljubo RUNJIC, Ph.D., Lecturer in International Law, Polytechnic of Sibenik (Croatia) 188. Tom RUYS, Professor, Universiteit Gent 189. Muriel UBEDA-SAILLARD, Professeur, Université de Lille 2 190. Jean SALMON, Professeur émérite, Université libre de Bruxelles 191. Marco SASSOLI, Professeur, Université de Genève 192. Sergey SAYAPIN, Assistant Professor, KIMEP University (Kazakhstan) 193. Damien SCALIA, Professeur, Université libre de Bruxelles 194. Iain SCOBBIE, Professor, University of Manchester 195. Gabrielle SIMM, Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Technology, Sidney 196. Despina SINOU, Chargée de cours, Universités de Paris 2 Panthéon Assas et Paris 13 Nord 197. Pedro SLOBODA, Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro 198. Mounir SNOUSSI, Professeur, Université de Carthage 199. Michelle SOARES GARCIA, Professor, Faculdade Sao Lucas (Brasil) 200. Jean-Marc SOREL, Professeur, Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne 201. Agnieszka SZPAK, Assistant Professor, Nicolas Copernicus University, Toruń (Poland) 202. Paulina STARSKI, LL.B., Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public and International Law, PostDoc Bucerius Law School, Hamburg 203. Immi TALGREN, Research Fellow, Université d’Helsinki 204. Bérangère TAXIL, Professeure, Université d’Angers 205. Jean-François THIBAULT, Doyen, Faculté des arts et des sciences sociales, Université de Moncton, Canada 206. Dire TLADI, Professor, University of Pretoria 207. Soledad TORRECUADRADA GARCIA-LOZANO, Catedrática acreditada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 208. Mark TOUFAYAN, Professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais 209. Marcos TOURINHO, Professor, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil 210. Emmanuelle TOURME-JOUANNET, Professeure, SciencesPo Paris 211. Daniel TURP, Professeur, Université de Montréal 212. Antonios TZANOKOPOULOS, Associate Professor, University of Oxford 213. Vassilis P. TZEVELEKOS, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Liverpool 214. Ntina TZOUVALA, Lecturer, Durham Law School, University of Durham 215. Kim VAN DER BORGHT, Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel 216. Ugo VILLANI, Professore ordinario, Universita degli studi di Bari Aldo Moro 217. Chiara VITUCCI, Professore, Seconda Università di Napoli 218. Christian WALTER, Professor, University of Munich 219. Karel WELLENS, Professeur émérite, Université de Nimègue 220. Ralph WILDE, Reader in Law, University College London 221. Myra WILLIAMSON, Associate Professor, Kuwait International Law School, Doha City 222. Paula WOJCIKIEWICZ ALMEIDA, Professor, Getulio Vargas Foundation Law School (Rio de Janeiro/Brazil) 223. Jan WOUTERS, Professor, Katholiek Universiteit Leuven 224. Eric WYLER, Professor, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) 225. Hideo YAMAGATA, Professor, Nagoya University 226. Patrick ZAHND, Professeur, Sciences Po Paris 227. Mamoud ZANI, Professeur, IHE-Tunis ; Directeur, Centre de droit international et européen (CDIE) 228. Svetlana ZASOVA, Maître de conférences en droit des conflits armés associée à Sciences po, chercheure associée à l'IREDIES - École de droit de la Sorbonne

ASSISTANTS / CHERCHEURS / DOCTORANTS ASSISTANTS / RESEARCHERS / PH.D. CANDIDATES

1. Mumbala ABELUNGU Junior, Doctorant, Universiteit Gent 2. Jelena APARAC, ATER, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre 3. Marco BENATAR, Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International Law; Researcher, Department of International and European Law, Vrije Universiteit Brussel 4. Issam BENHSSINE, Doctorant, Université Hassan II Ain Chock, Casablanca, Maroc. 5. Eric BILALE, assistant à l'Université Protestante au Congo 6. Gertjan BOULET, Ph.D. Candidate, Vrije Universiteit Brussel 7. Carlos Eduardo de Castro e Silva CARREIRA, Researcher, University of São Paulo 8. Moez CHARFEDDINE, Doctorant, thèse déposée, en attente de soutenance, Université de Carthage 9. Samson DABIRE, Doctorant, Assistant d’enseignements et de recherches-, Université de Genève 10. Habib Ahmed DJIGA, Chargé d'enseignement, Doctorant en Droit International, Université Ouaga II, Burkina Faso 11. Abir EL MEKKI, Doctorante, Université Tunis El Manar 12. Michel ERPELDING, Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law 13. Rana ESSAWY, Teaching Assistant, Alexandria University (Egypt) 14. Sina ETEZAZIAN, PhD student, Monash University 15. Manuel EYNARD, Doctorant contractuel, Universités de Nice Sophia-Antipolis et de Genève 16. Jérémy HALL, Doctorant, Université Grenoble-Alpes 17. Marie-Laurence HEBERT-DOLBEC, Doctorante, Université libre de Bruxelles 18. Aymeric HECHE, Doctorant, Université de Neuchâtel 19. Alexandra HOFER, Doctorante, Universiteit Gent 20. Aziah HUSSIN, LLM Candidate, University College London 21. Oumar KOUROUMA, Doctorant, Université Abdel Malek Essaâdi (Maroc) 22. Patryk LABUDA, PhD Candidate, Graduate Institute Geneva 23. Jinan LIMAM, Doctorante, thèse déposée, en attente de soutenance 24. Arnaud LOUWETTE, Assistant, Université libre de Bruxelles 25. Rachel LUCAS, Doctorante contractuelle, Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre, La Défense 26. Jean-Baptiste MAILLART, Doctorant, Université de Genève 27. Andrei MAMOLEA, PhD Candidate, Graduate Institute Geneva 28. Camille MARQUIS BISSONNETTE, Candidate au doctorat en droit, Université Laval 29. Raphaël MAUREL, ATER, Université d'Auvergne 30. Nidhal MEKKI, Doctorant, cotutelle, Université de Carthage - Université Laval 31. Yda Alexis NAGALO, Doctorant en droit international de l'environnement, Université Ouaga II, Burkina Faso 32. Providence NGOY WALUPAKAH, Doctorant en droit, Université de Genève 33. Sophie RONDEAU, Doctorante, Université de Genève 34. Jedsarit SAHUSSARDUNGSI, LLM candidate, University College London 35. Dorra SAMMOUD, Doctorante, Université de Carthage 36. Bérénice K. SCHRAMM, Chercheure postdoctorante FNS, SOAS, Londres, UQÀM, Montréal 37. Alexandre SENEGACNIK, Doctorant, Sciences Po Paris 38. Bettina STEIBLE, Doctorante, Université Autonome de Barcelone 39. Amine THABET, Doctorant, thèse déposée, en attente de soutenance, Université de Carthage 40. Sâ Benjamin TRAORE, Doctorant Boursier FNS en droit à l'Université de Neuchâtel, Suisse 41. Marusa VEBER, Assistant and PhD Candidate, University of Ljubljana 42. Agatha VERDEBOUT, Doctorante, Université libre de Bruxelles 43. Elodie WEIL, Doctorante, Chargée d'enseignement et de recherche, Université de Cergy-Pontoise 44. Laurent WEYERS, Assistant, Université Libre de Bruxelles. 45. Nadia WU-TIU-YEN, Doctorante, IEHI, Université d'Aix-Marseille ; Chargée d'enseignements, Université de la Réunion 46. Ka Lok YIP, PhD student, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies 47. Christian ZAN, Doctorant, Université Félix Houphouët Boigny, Abidjan



Additional information available here at the Centre de Droit International, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).



Recent notes/articles on this issue:

2015, BOEGLIN N., "The UK Parliament’s Decision to Bomb Syria is illegal. Arguments based on UN resolution 2249 in Prime Minister´s report on airstrikes in Syria: some clarifications needed", Global Research, available here

2015, LESPERANCE R.J. , «Canada’s Military Operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and the Law of Armed Conflict”, Vol. 10, Canadian International Lawyer (2015), available here

2014, PAULUSSEN CHR. & TIDBRI SZABÓ K."Testing the Validity of US Self-Defence Arguments against the Khorasan Group in Syria", ICCT Publications, available here

2015, WEILER M., "Permanent Imminence of Armed Attacks: Resolution 2249 (2015) and the Right to Self Defence Against Designated Terrorist Groups", European Journal of International Law (EJIL)Talk, available here.