ABSTRACT
One of the most important tasks remaining to the International Law Commission in its long-running work on State responsibility is to establish a satisfactory regime for the settlement of disputes. Within that regime, the issue of disputes over countermeasures is of particular significance. At present there are few established legal constraints on non-forcible counter-measures, apart from the criterion of proportionality and the prohibition of counter-measures violating individual human rights or rights of protected persons under international humanitarian law. 1 Since counter-measures are quite frequently used, and can tend to exacerbate disputes, there is a clear need for the Commission to propose a balanced regime to allow disputes over allegedly unlawful conduct leading to the taking of counter-measures to be resolved.
