State Responsibility Under International Law: A Critical Analysis of the International Law Commission’s Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts

State responsibility is one of the foundational doctrines of contemporary international law because it establishes the legal consequences that arise when a State fails to comply with an international obligation. The International Law Commission’s Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA), adopted in 2001, represent the most comprehensive articulation of the general rules governing State responsibility. Although the Articles have not been transformed into a comprehensive multilateral treaty, they have acquired substantial normative authority through judicial practice, State practice and their repeated application by international courts and tribunals. This article critically examines the structure, principles and practical significance of the Articles, with particular attention to attribution, breach of international obligations, circumstances precluding wrongfulness, reparation, serious breaches of peremptory norms, and the relationship between State responsibility and international human rights and criminal justice. It argues that the principal strength of the Articles lies in their ability to provide a coherent secondary framework applicable across different fields of international law. However, their effectiveness is constrained by difficulties surrounding attribution, enforcement, judicial jurisdiction and the political consequences of holding States responsible. The article further demonstrates that State responsibility and individual criminal responsibility are legally distinct but mutually complementary mechanisms of accountability. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the ARSIWA depends not merely upon their formal recognition but upon consistent interpretation, judicial application and meaningful implementation of the consequences of State responsibility.