Global Governance ♦ Online 61 Va. J. Int’l L. Online 1 (2020)

The Impossibility of Noncontribution

NICHOLAS J. DIAMOND

This essay considers noncontribution under the plea of necessity in international law. It first argues that noncontribution reflects an indeterminate and protean standard. It then contends that its application to the unique factual backdrop of a pandemic yields a virtually impossible standard for States to satisfy, not least because of the undertheorized effect of State conduct in breach of international obligations on noncontribution. As such, if noncontribution collapses in on itself, its role under the plea ought to be revisited.