CIL Research Associate Eduardo Cavalcanti de Mello Filho had his article ‘Armed Attacks against Merchant Vessels: “Looking behind the Flag” to Find the Victim State’ published in the Journal of Conflict and Security Law, Oxford University Press.

With a view to the ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, he defends that when a merchant vessel is attacked, not only the flag State can be considered a victim of an armed attack entitled to act in self-defence in accordance with UN Charter Article 51: The State of nationality of the beneficial owner of the ship too can be considered a victim State. He argues that this is because the rationale of this rule always assumed a correspondence between the flag State and the economic interests represented in the operation of the merchant vessel. However, because of the popularisation of open ship registries, more than 70% of ships are registered in a foreign country. Therefore, the rationale orienting the exercise of the right of self-defence in respect of merchant vessels requires the legal operator to ‘look behind the flag’ to identify the victim State.