Foreign "Interference" and International Law

The Basics

Context:

Western states have expressed concern about foreign “interference”, especially from the People’s Republic of China. This interference includes reported efforts to influence elections and the presence of unauthorized Chinese “police stations” in Western states.

Issue:

What legal rules govern “foreign interference”?

Bottom Line:

International law includes the concept of sovereignty, which limits foreign “intervention” in the affairs of the state. The doctrine of non-intervention is not violated by every form of “interference” — the foreign state conduct must include an element of “coercion”. “Coercion” itself is an uncertain concept, although it may reach certain clandestine or covert efforts to manipulate elections.

The sovereignty rule also precludes non-consenual exercises of enforcement jurisdiction — that is, exercises of state functions or power — by one state on the territory of another state.

A violation of these rules amounts to an internationally wrongful act.

The Details:

Run time: 3:39

Resources:

Forcese & West, National Security Law (2021), ch 6.

Robert Jennings & Arthur Watts (eds), Oppenheim’s International Law: Peace, 9th Ed (Oxford: Oxford International Press, 1992) at 432.

Christopher C Joyner, “Coercion” in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (online behind paywall).

International Group of Experts, NATO Coop Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare (2013) at 45.

Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v United States of America), Merits, Judgment, ICJ Reports 1986 at para 202.

SS Lotus Case, PCIJ (1927) at 18.