CYIL Vol. 7, 2016

JAN ONDŘEJ – MAGDA UXOVÁ CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ above), the Security Council did not adopt any resolution which would solve the conflicts on the territory of Iraq and Syria. The proposals of resolutions on Syria were vetoed by Russia in 2012. 45 In such cases the general international law and Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations grant the states the right for individual and collective self-defence in the case of armed attack until the Security council takes the appropriate measures to maintain international peace and security. Considering the military actions in support of Iraq and Syria by the USA, Russia and other states, the question of practical application of the right to self-defence arises. In the case of Iraq there is no particular problem from the point of view of international law. The intervention is conducted on the basis of the agreement of the territorial sovereign. 46 The air strikes conducted by the USA and other states’ air forces follow a request of the Iraqi government in a letter of 20 September 2014. Following, the letter addressed to the Security Council president expressed Iraqi government position which welcomes the promise made by 26 states to provide the Iraqi government with all the necessary help in the fight against ISIL, including appropriate military assistance through air cover in cooperation with Iraqi armed forces and in accordance with international law. 47 The invitation of the Iraqi government is considered the legal basis for the intervention ; however, Great Britain also referred to Article 51 of the UN Charter which regulates the right to self-defence and announced it to the Security Council. 48 No particular UN resolution authorizing the intervention into the Iraqi territory was adopted; however, there is a broad consensus within the UN about the activities of ISIL. 49 As to the coalition air strikes in Iraq, it can be said that they are conducted on the basis of Iraqi government approval. We can from the legal point of view consider if this is a practical implementation of the right to collective self-defence. The right to self-defence can without doubt be applied in the case of an armed attack of a state. An attack of a de facto regime could be considered such an attack Much more arguable is the issue of an attack by an actor which is not a state, a terrorist organization such as the Islamic state is considered to be. The question of the right to self-defence against non-state actors was also raised by Higgins. 50 Nevertheless, other authors, for example Cassese or Stahn, do not exclude this option. Cassese 51 45 MALENOVSKÝ, Jiří. Mezinárodní právo veřejné. Obecná část a poměr k jiným právním systémům . 6. vydání. Brno: nakladatelství Doplněk, 2014, p. 357. 46 RONZITTI, Natalino. The Intervention against the Islamic State under International Law . International Relations and Security Network (ISN) 7 November 2014. 47 CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE OF THE UNITED STATES. United States Deepens Its Engagement with ISIL Conflict. American Journal of International Law , 2015, volume 109, No. 1, p. 202. 48 HIGGINS, Rosalyn. The United Nations at 70 Years: The Impact upon International Law. International and Comparative Law Quarterly . 2016, volume 65, p. 14. 49 Ibid . 50 Ibid ., p. 13. 51 CASSESE, Antonio cited in: ONDŘEJ, Jan. Odzbrojení, prostředek zajištění mezinárodní bezpečnosti . 2. vydání. Plzeň: Aleš Čeněk, 2008, p. 132.

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