Use of Force International Law Simplified Lex Animata by Hesham Elrafei

Use of Force in International Public Law, explained and simplified in a visual nutshell

By Hesham Elrafei
  / heshamelrafei  


At the end of World War I, the League of Nations failed to prevent states, from using military force to resolve their disputes, as It did not prohibit war nor impose any responsibility, on wrongdoing States.

Instead, The League of Nations requested disputing countries, to try and settle their dispute peacefully, and if not, to wait for three months before going to war.

Ten years later, the Treaty of Paris was adopted. Although its wording is stronger than the League Covenant, the Treaty merely ‘condemned recourse to war.

As a result, many countries entered into bilateral non­aggression agreements to protect themselves; however, most of those treaties did not last, as going to war was not prohibited.

At the end of World War II, and to prevent any future atrocities, The UN charter expressly prohibited all threats to use force, as well as the actual use of armed force.

Therefore, the reason behind the use of military force is irrelevant, Since all instances of armed force are prohibited.

In the Corfu Channel case, a British warship entered Albanian waters without approval, to remove mines that blocked international navigation, after been responsible for the destruction of passing British ships.

The UK denied any breach of the Charter, because it meant only to remove the mines , and had no impact on Albania's territorial integrity, or political independence.

The court disagreed with the UK, holding that a violation of Albanian territorial integrity took place, even if the action was temporary, and had limited objectives.

Therefore, Military force is illegal, even if it is not aimed at disrupting other nations' territorial integrity, or political independence.

Similarly, it also means that military actions not authorized by the security council, to restore democracy or to change a political regime,­ are illegal under the charter.

This is also attested in the Friendly Relations Declaration, adopted by the UN General Assembly, as it prohibits all kinds of external intervention, in other nation's domestic affairs, which is also stipulated in section 7 of Article 2 of the charter.

However, the use of force does not include, The unilateral imposition of political and economic measures or sanctions.

On the other side, the use of armed force is not always prohibited, as states are allowed to use military force, under two conditions:

First, in a self­defence case, A state can use military force, to defend itself from an armed attack.

And second, the Collective security, which means the use of armed force authorized by the UN security council, against rogue or violent States , or even against non State entities, such as pirates and terrorist organizations.


While The UN is the only international body authorized to use force outside self-defense cases, it still has to depend on states to offer their troops, as it does not have its own military.

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Use of force
the Nicaragua case,
Oil Platforms,
the Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion and
Serbia & Montenegro v Belgium (Case Concerning the Legality of Use of Force).
the Caroline case.
(a) the prohibition of force and self­defence (Arts 2(4) and 51 UN Charter and
(b) collective security and the role of the Security Council (SC) under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970. This is one of the most important resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and is known as the Friendly Relations Declaration.