Reciprocity and Countermeasures

This chapter discusses the relationship between reciprocity and countermeasures. It shows that traditional countermeasures, under which a violation of international law by one State triggers the entitlement of another State, directly injured by the violation, to depart from its obligations under international law, have a strong element of symmetry and reciprocity built into them. This element is, however, already weakened in so-called non-reciprocal countermeasures that involve the suspension of an obligation other than the one originally violated. It is even more weakened, and almost absent, in modern countermeasures, that include countermeasures taken by or against actors other than States, and countermeasures adopted in the general (collective) interest. The change in the nature of countermeasures and the decreasing role of reciprocity begs the question about the legal limits imposed on modern countermeasures, as the classical conditions for their lawful exercise, designed for traditional countermeasures, are difficult to apply to their modern forms.