Causation in the Law of State Responsibility

Abstract This article examines the role that causation plays at different stages of the state responsibility analysis under international law. In the context of determining reparation, it argues that the standard of legal causation that best meets the two functions of the law of state responsibility is that of foreseeability of injury and not directness (‘a sufficiently direct and certain causal nexus’), even though the latter standard has been adopted by the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.