State Responsibility for Acts of Aggression Under the United Nations Charter: A Review of Cases

The chapter looks into the issue of State responsibility for acts of aggression under the UN Charter in order to provide a basis for the prosecution of the newly defined crime of aggression under the Statute of the International Criminal Court. The analysis starts by providing and describing the definition of aggression as presented in the relevant UN documents and in the very first practice of international criminal tribunals. It then focuses on the role and practice of the Security Council in condemning acts of aggression and, moreover, it offers an overview of the practice of other UN bodies, such as the General Assembly and the International Court of Justice. In conclusion, the Author presents some thoughts about the future scenario of the relationship between the ICC and the UN with regard to the prosecution of the crime of aggression.