The Principle of State Responsibility

What is State Responsibility?

The set of rules that define the consequences of one State’s breach of its international obligations.

A secondary set of rules depending on a primary substantive set of rules to establish what in fact are the
obligations of international law.

States are generally responsible for breaches of their obligations under international law.
Ian Brownlie: “Today one can regard responsibility as a general principle of international law, a
concomitant of substantive rules and of the supposition that acts and omissions may be categorized as
illegal by reference to the rules establishing rights and duties. Shortly, the law of responsibility is
concerned with the incidence and consequences of illegal acts, and particularly the payment of
compensation for loss caused.

The release of the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts
in December of 2001 by the International Law Commission.
Draft Article 1: “Every internationally wrongful act of a State entails the international responsibility of that
State.”

Draft Article 2: An internationally wrongful act is any action or omission “attributable to the state under
international law” and constituting a “breach of an international obligation of the State:”

Draft Articles 34-37: States responsible for an internationally wrongful act are under an obligation…
 To make restitution
 To compensate for any damage cause
 To give satisfaction

Draft Articles 20-27: States may give consent, self-defense or countermeasures, in cases of another State’s
wrongful acts, force majeure, distress or necessity against them.

Affirmation of the International Tribunals on the role of State Responsibility.

Permanent Court of International Justice: “It is a principle of international law, and even a general
conception of law, that any breach of an engagement involves an obligation to make reparation. In
Judgment No. 8… the Court has already said that reparation is the indispensable complement of a failure
to apply a convention, and there is no necessity for this to be stated in the convention itself.

State Responsibility for international environment law.

States are responsible for breaching the obligation not to cause environmental harm.

Stockholm Declaration Principle 21 & Rio Declaration Principle 2: States have the responsibility to ensure
that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment.