The criterion of state involvement in the light of the practice of counter-terrorism in self-defence: a closed question permanently questioned

Abstract

The actions of international terrorism untied to states and the invocation of the right to legitimate selfdefence by some states in order to repress it, promote a permanent questioning of the validity of the prerequisite of state involvement in order to activate this institution. Thus, in this article we reflect on the authorship of the armed attack, determining the current law in this area, examine the other proposed criteria in the light of state practice and propose other feasible alternatives when the current criteria do not apply. To this end, we use a legal methodology that systematically analyses the sources of international law, international jurisprudence, doctrine and, especially, state counter-terrorism practice in recent decades.