The Use of Force against Terrorists: A Reply to Christian J. Tams

EJIL (2009), Vol. 20 No. 4, 1049–1055 doi: 10.1093/ejil/chp101 In his recent article ‘The Use of Force Against Terrorists’,1 Professor Tams provides a thoughtful overview of developments in the jus ad bellum over the past 20 years. His analysis focuses on the right to use force in self-defence, particularly as regards the permissibility of extra-territorial military responses to terrorist attacks by non-state actors. The thrust of Professor Tams’ argument is that the relevant state practice suggests an evolution in the law of self-defence – moving away from a restrictive analysis of Article 51 to a broader interpretation which more easily accommodates anti-terrorist force. In this comment, I will focus on Professor Tams’ approach to questions of ‘attribution’ and the inter-state reading of Article 51, in particular his ‘more moderate (but still important) re-reading’2 of the standard of attribution applicable in the terrorism context.