ABSTRACT
There is evidence to suggest that reprisals satisfying certain criteria of reasonableness may avoid condemnation by the Security Council even though the Council will maintain the general proposition that all armed reprisals are illegal. Reprisals and self-defense are forms of the same generic remedy, self-help. Reference has been made to the special difficulties encountered by a state which is forced to adjust its defensive measures against guerrilla activity to a narrow concept of self-defense. Weighing the advantages against the disadvantages, it would seem that the approach of the Security Council in assessing whether a case for lawful self-defense has been made out has been somewhat unrealistic. One possibility is that the Security Council might consider the desirability of limited sanctions designed to reinforce its authority and deter unreasonable reprisals. The other possibility, somewhat separate from this, is to consider institutional devices which may assist states in pursuing a policy of restraint.
