United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX) (Definition of Aggression) was adopted by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

on December 14, 1974 as a non-binding recommendation to the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

on the definition it should use for the

crime of aggression A crime of aggression or crime against peace is the planning, initiation, or execution of a large-scale and serious act of aggression using state military force. The definition and scope of the crime is controversial. The Rome Statute contains an ...

Background

The adoption of the definition was the culmination of a long process begun in 1923 under the auspices of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. In December 1967 the General Assembly adopted Resolution 2330 (XXII), which established a Special Committee on the Question of Defining Aggression. This body comprised 35 member states. After seven years, it reported back to the General Assembly with draft proposals that formed the basis of the final Definition of Aggression.

The definition of aggression

The definition makes a distinction between '' aggression'' (which "gives rise to international responsibility") and ''

war of aggression A war of aggression, sometimes also war of conquest, is a military conflict waged without the justification of self-defense, usually for territorial gain and subjugation. Wars without international legality (i.e. not out of self-defense nor san ...

'' (which is "a crime against international peace"). Article 3 "in accordance with the provisions of article 2", defines certain acts as aggression, namely: * armed invasions or attacks, occupation and annexation by force, * bombardments, * blockades, * attacks on armed forces or civilian merchant or air fleet of a state, * armed violations of Status of forces agreements, Also, certain use of third parties as "proxy" is attributable as own acts to a state, namely: * permitting other states to use one's own territory to perpetrate acts of aggression, and * the employment of armed irregulars or mercenaries to carry out acts of aggression. Article 2 states that the first use of force in contravention of the UN Charter will be prima facie evidence of aggression, but the Security Council has the authority to determine that given the circumstances aggression has not taken place. A war of aggression is a series of acts committed with a sustained intent. The definition's distinction between an ''act'' of aggression and a ''war'' of aggression make it clear that not every act of aggression would constitute a crime against peace; only war of aggression does. States would nonetheless be held responsible for acts of aggression.

Criticisms of the definition

The wording of the definition has been criticised by many commentators. Its clauses on the use of armed irregulars are vague, as it is unclear what level of "involvement" would entail state responsibility. It is also highly state-centric, in that it deems states to be the only actors liable for acts of aggression. Domestic or transnational insurgent groups, such as those that took part in the

Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberian dictator Char ...

and the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

, were key players in their respective conflicts despite being non-state parties; they would not have come within the scope of the definition. The Definition of Aggression also does not cover acts by international organisations. The two key military alliances at the time of the definition's adoption,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

, were non-state parties and thus were outside the scope of the definition. Moreover, the definition does not deal with the responsibilities of individuals for acts of aggression. It is widely perceived as an insufficient basis on which to ground individual criminal prosecutions. The definition is not binding on the Security Council. The

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...

empowers the General Assembly to make recommendations to the

but the Assembly may not dictate to the Council. The resolution accompanying the definition states that it is intended to provide guidance to the Security Council to aid it "in determining, in accordance with the Charter, the existence of an act of aggression".

Yoram Dinstein Yoram Dinstein (יורם דינשטיין; born January 2, 1936) is an Israeli scholar and Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University. He is a specialist on international law, and a prominent authority on the laws of war. He served as President of ...

, ''War, Aggression and Self-Defence'', p. 118. Cambridge University Press, 2003 The Security Council may apply or disregard this guidance as it sees fit. Legal commentators argued in 1999 that the Definition of Aggression has had "no visible impact" on the deliberations of the Security Council.M.C. Bassiouni and B.B. Ferencz, "The Crime against Peace", ''International Criminal Law'', I, 313, 334 (M.C. Bassiouni ed., 2nd ed., 1999)

References

External links

A Brief Primer on International Law
With cases and commentary. Nathaniel Burney, 2007.
Official United Nations website

Official UN website on International Law

Official website of the International Court of Justice

by

Elizabeth Wilmshurst Elizabeth Susan Wilmshurst (born 28 August 1948), Distinguished Fellow of the International Law Programme at Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs), and Professor of International Law at University College London, is best k ...

, procedural history note and audiovisual material on ''General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974 (Definition of Aggression)'' in th
Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
{{International Criminal Court 3314 International Criminal Court 1974 in law Aggression in international law 1974 in the United Nations December 1974 events

Background

The definition of aggression

Criticisms of the definition

See also

References

External links