International legal regulation of the use of reprisals as a form of political responsibility of states

Abstract

The article attempts to determine the principles of international legal regulation of the use of reprisals as a form of political responsibility in international law, since reprisals are illegal actions committed in response to previous illegal actions of the state, proportional to the initial offense. International law has changed the application of the doctrine of retaliation to avoid an upward spiral of violence where one side retaliates against the illegal actions of another, causing ever more violent bloodshed, while the laws of war are meant to regulate and limit such harm. Theoretical provisions regarding the international legal regulation of the use of reprisals as one of the forms of political responsibility according to international law are analyzed. In order for reprisals against permitted categories of persons and objects not to be illegal, five conditions must be met. Most of these conditions are laid down in military instructions and confirmed by official statements. The following conditions: the purpose of reprisal (can be used only in response to a previous serious violation of international law and only to induce the adversary to comply with the law); last resort (can only be used as a last resort when there are no other legal measures), proportionality (measures must be proportionate to the violation it aims to stop), decision at the highest level of government (the decision must be taken at the highest level of government), termination (must be terminated as soon as the adversary begins to enforce the law). The occurrence of reprisals in real cases is analyzed - Naulilaa Incident (When Portugal was neutral, in October 1914, a German group entered the Portuguese-African territories from German South­West Africa) and «Israel against Palestine» (After the Second World War the Jews wanted their own country. They were given a large part of Palestine, which they considered their traditional home, but the Arabs did not accept the new country. In 1948, both sides went to war); the use of reprisals in today's world is analyzed.