The Duty to Pay Reparations for the Violation of the Prohibition of the Use of Force in International Relations and the Jus Post Bellum

Abstract

Abstract This chapter critically assesses the usefulness of a jus post bellum as a freshly discussed third pillar of international peace and security law with regard to a state’s duty to pay reparations for an unlawful resort to force. Based on the analysis of the relevant practice—starting from the Versailles reparations regime after the First World War and ending with the work of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission at the beginning of the twenty-first century—this chapter identifies a systemic gap in the current legal framework governing the aggressor state’s reparations obligation. While the principle of full reparation is one of the fundamental premises to the law of state responsibility and firmly enshrined in customary international law, there is a recurring practice in the aftermath of armed conflicts to consider the severity of the aggressor state’s wrongdoing and its economic capacity in determining the adequate reparations sum. The chapter concludes that this practice, which reflects the unique peacebuilding function of reparations in a post bellum society, can be best addressed by developing and applying a jus post bellum principle of proportionality to the aggressor state’s reparations obligation.