International Law On The Right Of Self-defense Theory And Recent Practice

The right of self-defense is an inherent and natural right of states, which is well established in customary international law. However, neither the customary international law nor international treaties have given clear and systematic regulation of this important right. The UN Charter, in Article 51, recognizes this right and sets several limitations on it. From then on, states no longer have any right of self-defense other than that stipulated in Article 51 of the UN Charter, such as the right of anticipatory self-defense, even though it may be lawful under customary international law before the UN Charter was adopted.Under current international law, the victim state should meet four requirements in exercising the right of self-defense. First, there should be actual armed attack; second, the action of self-defense should be necessary and proportionate; third, the UN Security Council has not taken necessary action to maintain international peace and security, and; forth, the victim state should report to the Security Council immediately about the action it has taken to defend itself.The right of self-defense against terrorist attack is a controversial issue. The author of this essay believes that only if a terrorist attack constitutes armed attack, the victim state has the right to do so. The victim state should strictly observe all the four requirements mentioned above. The targets should be limited to the terrorist group which carried out the terrorist attack and the state (states) which goaded, directed, controlled or tolerated the terrorist attack.