State Responsibility and Reparations in International Law

Legitimate Defense and Force Majeure

2) Legitimate Defense: The right of self-defense is one that a state has to use force to repel aggression against them. Force majeure and fortuitous events: This circumstance also disclaims responsibility for third parties, provided these defenses involve an act of impossibility in any other manner that is not the right counter-example. For instance: the case of military aircraft of a state that are bound by a mechanical or product failure, or bad weather, and were forced to overfly the territory of another state without authorization.

Consent of the Injured State

Consent of the Injured State: This can also change to a circumstance exempting the legitimacy of the act, so the injured state eliminates the wrongfulness of the act. Example: two bordering states may agree that their police cross the border to hunt down criminals fleeing through it.

Legal Consequences of International Torts

International practice allows us to distinguish three forms of reparation:

1. Satisfaction

It is based on moral grounds and tends to repair the damage caused to the dignity and honor of a state. Examples of satisfaction are:

• (1) Presentation of a solemn apology
• (2) Salute to the offended state's flag
• (3) Penalty against the responsible official

2. Restoration of the Status Quo

The repair tends primarily to restore the state of things that would exist if the wrongful act had not been committed. Examples include:

• (1) Release of those wrongly detained
• (2) Withdrawal of troops from invaded territory
• (3) Restoration of property illegally confiscated

3. Compensation for Damages

If you are unable to sufficiently restore the situation before the wrongful act, the responsible state must compensate for the damages caused by that fact. The determination of compensation is governed by general principles of administration. It must compensate all the damages that are a normal consequence of the wrongful act, including lost profits (i.e., the loss of a benefit that had been expected according to the regular course of things). Compensation then decreases when the injured party is partly to blame (known as compensation for guilt) or when the wrongful act resulted in advantages for the injured party (known as compensation for profit). These three forms of reparation are not mutually exclusive; therefore, they may all apply to any given case.