The Proportionality Principle in Implementation of Economic Sanctions

One of the issues to determine the limits of international sanctions is the “proportionality principle”. In fact, this principle has a key role in presenting a real impression about the legal aspects of unilaterally imposed sanctions. However, this notion has not been properly clarified in the doctrine and the international jurisprudence. The ambiguity has given rise to abuse of rights by powerful States. This article illustrates the principle of proportionality to the readers. In this article, our focus is on the legal sources of this notion: International case law & State practice. The aim is to avoid a political approach and to transmit a pure legal perception to recognize the real limits of States and international organizations to impose unilateral measures on other international community actors.