Self-Defence Against Non-State Actors: Reality or Fiction of the Jus ad Bellum?

Abstract

The present paper aims to analyse the possibility to apply the principle of self-defence enshrined in article 51 of the United Nations Charter to attacks perpetrated by non - state actors, when the State from which such attacks were launched was not involved and did not consent to it. In this regard, the paper presents the traditional framework of the principle of self-defence as one of the exceptions to the prohibition of the use of force, which is mainly focused on the States activities. Secondly, the paper discusses about how the international community would answer, from legal perspective, to the threats imposed by the attacks of non - state actors perpetrated without the consent of the host State, considering the existing practice related to this issue. Finally, the rule of self-defence will be analysed in the light of the current events related to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Syria.