In the wake of the adoption by the International Law Commission of a complete set of articles on state responsibility in international law in 2001, this collection assembles a number of essays tracing key debates which have marked the evolution of this field over the last fifty years.

Contents: Historical Evolution: The transformation of the law of state responsibility, Y. Matsui. General Theory of International Responsibility: 'Primary' and 'secondary' rules in the law of state responsibility: categorizing international obligations, J. Combacau and D. Alland; The due diligence rule and the nature of the international responsibility of states, Riccardo Pisillo-Mazzeschi; State responsibility and international liability for injurious consequences of acts not prohibited by international law: a necessary distinction?, Alan E. Boyle. Consequences of an Internationally Wrongful Act: Is there an international law of remedies?, Christine Gray; Counter-measures as interim measures, James Crawford; Third state remedies in international law, Jonathan I. Charney; Bilateralism and community interest in the law of state responsibility, Bruno Simma; The consequences of an international wrong in international and national law, F.A. Mann. Criminalizing State Responsibility: Criminalizing state responsibility, Krystyna Marek; Can a state commit a crime? Definitely, yes!, Alain Pellet. Injuries to Aliens: State responsibility for the nationalization of foreign owned property, Eduardo Jiménez de Aréchaga; State contracts with aliens: contemporary developments on compensation for termination or breach, Derek William Bowett. Critical Perspectives on State Responsibility: International law and the Third World, A.A. Fatouros;A critique of the public/private dimension, Christine Chinkin; The international law of state responsibility: revolution or evolution?, Pierre-Marie Dupuy; State responsibility and the unmaking of international law, Philip Allott. Annexes:1996 ILC draft articles on state responsibility; 2001 UN articles on the responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts of states. Select bibliography; Name index.