The use of force by non- state actors and the limits of attribution of conduct: A rejoinder to Ilias Plakokefalos

Abstract

I am grateful to Ilias Plakokefalos for his thought-provoking comments on my article. Plakokefalos makes two overarching critiques. First, he argues that my normative claim conflates the distinction between primary and secondary rules and is closer to an argument in favour of a new primary rule prohibiting aid or assistance (complicity) of states in the use of force by non-state actors (NSAs). Second, Plakokefalos submits that there is insufficient support in case law for the construction of complicity as a basis for the attribution of conduct.