The Exception of Self-Defence in U.N. Practice

In the U.N. Charter, self-defence does not appear as the subject of an independent rule, formulated in Art. 51, but rather as an exception to another rule, that contained in Art. 2(4). Thus, before going on to examine the ‘exception of self-defence’ in U.N. practice, the fundamental characteristics of the system laid down by the Charter to regulate the use of force must be briefly recalled.