Complicity and the Law of State Responsibility

A timely analysis of State complicity in international law, which takes an innovative rule-of-law perspective.

Helmut Philipp Aust (Author)

9781107682153, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 September 2013

522 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.69 kg

'… essential for understanding the notion of complicity … The discussions in the book rest on an impressive range of material and on rigorous reasoning, the whole being written in a direct and engaging style. Reading of this book is to be recommended to everyone interested in the law of international responsibility.' Olivier Corten, translated from Revue Belge de Droit International

This systematic analysis of State complicity in international law focuses on the rules of State responsibility. Combining a theoretical perspective on complicity based on the concept of the international rule of law with a thorough analysis of international practice, Helmut Philipp Aust establishes what forms of support for wrongful conduct entail responsibility of complicit States and sheds light on the consequences of complicity in terms of reparation and implementation. Furthermore, he highlights how international law provides for varying degrees of responsibility in cases of complicity, depending on whether peremptory norms have been violated or special subject areas such as the law of collective security are involved. The book shows that the concept of State complicity is firmly grounded in international law, and that the international rule of law may serve as a conceptual paradigm for today's international legal order.

1. Introduction
2. Complicity between bilateralism and community interest
3. Complicity and the international rule of law
4. Complicity in customary international law
5. The concept of complicity in Article 16 ASR
6. The consequences of complicity
7. Complicity and aggravated responsibility
8. A network of rules on complicity
9. Concluding observations.

Subject Areas: Responsibility of states & other entities [LBBV], Public international law [LBB], Law [L]