Abstract

This paper analyses the issue of complicity in grave breaches of international obligations "erga omnes". In the first Section, this contribution scrutinizes the particular nature of international obligations "erga omnes", that is to say obligations owed to the international community as a whole. It also examines the rule on aid or assistance in internationally wrongful acts, enshrined in article 16 of the Draft Articles on State Responsibility and in article 14 and 58 of the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations. In the second Section, the paper illustrates two recent cases of complicity in grave breaches of international law: the aid or assistance given by Italy and the European Union in the violation of fundamental human rights committed by Libya and the assistance given by the United Kingdom to the grave breaches of international humanitarian law committed by Saudi Arabia in the context of the Yemeni civil war.