Critically assess whether force can be used in self-defence by a state when the armed attack that it is responding to was perpetrated by a non-state actor.

Critically assess whether force can be used in self-defence by a state when the armed attack that it is responding to was perpetrated by a non-state actor.

Learning Outcomes:
This essay requires students to engage with scholarship and state practice to develop an understanding of customary international law/treaty interpretation in the context of a highly contentious question. Students are required be critical and selective when looking at such doctrine and practice, and to fully justify whichever position they adopt. More generally, students must demonstrate both research and writing skills.