Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals

Year 2023, Issue: 73, 327 - 344, 24.11.2023
https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2023.73.0010

Abstract

While cyber technologies have been advancing since the late 1980s and early 1990s, cyberspace became one of the platforms in which interstate relations occur, ranging from politics and economics to war and conflicts as a result of the mainstreaming of broadband Internet access in the early 2000s. Previously imagined as a platform for free and open communication among people without any state controls or regulations, cyberspace has become one of the main topics of international politics over the last decade. However, laws and policies managing cyberspace have fallen behind the technological developments. Thus, the issue only started to gain the global attention it deserves when modest progress was observed in international law concerning the legal status of cyberspace and the relevant valid principles in the 2000s. State-led cyber operations against Estonia in 2008, Georgia in 2009, and Iran in 2010 supposedly played a significant role in transforming cyberspace into an area of national and international concern. Subsequently, various initiatives have emerged at the international level for adopting internationally recognized cyber rules and principles. Within the framework of Janssens and Wouters’ (2022) study Informal International Law-Making: A Way Around the Deadlock of International Humanitarian Law?, this work aims to discuss how and to what extent international law can be developed for application in cyberspace by focusing on the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare (Schmitt [Ed.], 2013) and the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations (Schmitt [Ed.], 2017), the most comprehensive, albeit non-binding, works published to date on the applicability of existing international law in cyberspace. Using a literature review as its method, the study presents the results of the main legal texts and academic studies and argues that even though the issue has only recently come to the fore as one of the newest areas of international legal systems, the specific rights and duties of states flowing from the age-old principles of international law (i.e., sovereignty, territoriality, and non-intervention) have not become obsolete in this domain.

References

  • Allen S, ‘Enforcing Criminal Jurisdiction in the Clouds and International Law’s google scholar
  • Enduring Commitment to Territoriality’ in S Allen, D Costelloe, M Fitzmaurice, P Gragl, and E Guntrip (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Jurisdiction in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2019) 1-35. google scholar
  • Betz D J and Stevens T, Cyberspace and the State: Toward a Strategy for Cyber Power (first published, Routledge, 2011). google scholar
  • Buchan R, Cyber Espionage and International Law (first published 2018, Hart Publishing, 2019). google scholar
  • Carr M, US Power and the Internet in International Relations: The Irony of the Information Age (first published, Palgrave Macmillan 2016). google scholar
  • Couture S and Toupin S, ‘What Does the Notion “Sovereignty” Mean When Referring to the Digital’ (2019) 21(10) New Media & Society 1-18. google scholar
  • Crawford J, Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, 8th edition, 2012). google scholar
  • Dannat G, ‘How Cloud Computing Complicates the Jurisdiction of State Law’ (E-International Relations, 14 September 2012) < https://www.e-ir.info/2012/09/14/how-cloud-computing-complicates-the-jurisdiction-of-state-law/> accessed 8 September 2023. google scholar
  • Deibert R J and Rohozinski R, ‘Risking Security: Policies and Paradoxes of Cyberspace Security’ (2010) 4(1), International Political Sociology 15-32. google scholar
  • Demchak C C and Dombrowski P, ‘Rise of a Cybered Westphalian Age’ (2011) 5(1) Strategic Studies Quarterly 32-61. google scholar
  • Ecemiş Yılmaz H K, ‘Siber Uzay, Siber Güvenlik, Dijital Egemenlik Kavramlarının Uluslararası Hukuk Bağlamında Değerlendirilmesi’ (2021) 12(9) ULİSA- Mühendislik, Hukuk, İletişim ve İktisat Perspektifinden Siber Güvenlik ve Sosyal Medya 21-26. google scholar
  • Franzese P W, ‘Sovereignty in Cyberspace: Can It Exist?’ (2009) 64 Air Force Law Review 1-42. google scholar
  • Gibson W, Neuromancer (first published, Ace 1984). google scholar
  • Gourley S K, ‘Cyber Sovereignty’ in P A Yannakogeorgos and A B Lowther (eds) Conflict and Cooperation in Cyberspace: The Challenge to National Security (Taylor & Francis, 2014) 277290. google scholar
  • Güntay V, ‘21. Yüzyıl Paradoksu Olarak Siber Uzay ve Uluslararası Hukuk’ (2019) 1(2) Novus Orbis Journal of Politics and International Relations 87-109. google scholar
  • Haataja S, ‘Cyber Operations against Critical Infrastructure Under Norms of Responsible State Behaviour and International Law’ (2022) 30(4) International Journal of Law and Information Technology 423-443. google scholar
  • Hassan D, ‘The Rise of the Territorial State and the Treaty of Westphalia’ in G M (ed) Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence (University of Waikato School of Law, 2006) 62-70. google scholar
  • Herrera G L, ‘Cyberspace and Sovereignty: Thoughts of Physical Space and Digital Space’, in M D Cavelty, V Maurer and S F Krishna-Hensel (eds) Power and Security in the Information Age: Investigating the Role of the State in Cyberspace (Ashgate, 2007) 67-93. google scholar
  • Hollis D B, ‘A Brief Primer on International Law and Cyberspace’ (Carneige Endowment for International Peace, June 2021) <https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/14/brief-primer-on-international-law-and-cyberspace-pub-84763> accessed 26 June 2023. google scholar
  • Hollis D B, ‘From Corollaries to Contents? Elaborating the Principle of Non-intervention in Cyberspace’ in F Delerue and A Gery (eds) International Law and Cybersecurity Governance (European Union Institute for Security Studies, 2022) 51-58. google scholar
  • Hörnle J, Internet Jurisdiction - Law and Practice (Oxford University Press, 1st edn, 2019). google scholar
  • Janssens P C and Wouters J, ‘Informal International Law-Making: A Way Around the Deadlock of International Humanitarian Law?’ (2022) 104(920-921) International Review of the Red Cross, 2111-2130. google scholar
  • Karadağ Ş, ‘Siber Uzayda Uluslararası Hukuk Mümkün Mü?’ (2019) 5(36) International Social Sciences Studies Journal 2827-2833. google scholar
  • Kello L, ‘The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution’ (2013) 38(2) International Security 7-40. google scholar
  • Keohane R O and Nye J S, ‘Power and Interdependence in the Information Age’ (1998) 77(5), Foreign Affairs 81-94. google scholar
  • Kshetri N, ‘Cybercrime and Cyber-security Issues Associated with China: Some Economic and Institutional Considerations’ (2013) 13(1) Electronic Commerce Research 41-69. google scholar
  • Kuehl D T, ‘From Cyberspace to Cyberpower: Defining the Problem’ in F D Kramer, S H Starr and L K Wentz (eds), Cyberpower and National Security (National Defense University Press, 2009) 24-42. google scholar
  • Lan T and Xin Z, ‘Can Cyber Deterrence Work?’ in A Nagorski (ed), Global Cyber Deterrence: Views From China, The U.S., Russia, India, and Norway (East-West Institute, 2010) 1-2. google scholar
  • Liarapoulos A, ‘Power and Security in Cyberspace: Implications for the Westphalian State System’ Panorama of Global Security Environment (Bratislava: Centre for European and North American Affairs, 2011) 541-549. google scholar
  • Libicki M C, Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar (RAND Corporation, 2009) <https://www.rand.org/ content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG877.pdf> accessed 30 April 2023. google scholar
  • Maurer T, ‘Cyber Norm Emergence at the United Nations - An Analysis of the UN’s Activities Regarding Cyber-security’ (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Discussion Paper, 2011-11) <https://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/cybersecurity/maurer-cyber-norm-dp-2011-11. pdf> accessed 15 July 2023. google scholar
  • Moynihan H, ‘The Application of International Law to State Cyberattacks Sovereignty and Non-intervention’ (Chatham House, December 2019) <https://www.chathamhouse.org/2019/12/ application-international-law-state-cyberattacks> accessed 1 July 2023. google scholar
  • Nye J S, ‘Cyber Power’ (Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, May 2010) <https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/cyber-power.pdf> accessed 15 April 2023. google scholar
  • Nye J S, The Future of Power (first published, PublicAffairs, 2011). google scholar
  • Nye J S, ‘The Regime Complex for Managing Global Cyber Activities’ (The Global Commission on Internet Governance and Chatham House, May 2014) <https://www.cigionline.org/static/ documents/gcig_paper_no1.pdf> accessed 15 April 2023 google scholar
  • Pauwelyn J, “Informal International Lawmaking: Framing the Concept and Research Questions”, in J Pauwelyn, R A Wessel and J Wouters (eds), Informal International Law-Making (Oxford University Press, 2014) 13-34 google scholar
  • Rauscher K F, ‘First Joint Russian-U.S. report on Cyber Conflict’ (EastWest Institute, 2011) www.eastwest.ngo/idea/towards-rules-governing-cyber-conflict-0> accessed 15 April 2023. google scholar
  • Ryngaert C, Jurisdiction in International Law (first published 2008, Oxford University Press, 2019) 5. google scholar
  • Schmitt M N, ‘International Law in Cyberspace: The Koh Speech and Tallinn Manual Juxtaposed’ (2013) 54(5) Harvard International Law Journal Online 13-37<https://harvardilj.org/2012/12/ online-articles-online_54_schmitt/> 31 accessed 15 July 2023. google scholar
  • Schmitt M. N. (ed), Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations (first published, Cambridge University Press, 2017). google scholar
  • Singer P W and Friedman A, ‘Cult of the Cyber Offensive’ (2014) Foreign Policy 182 <http:// foreignpolicy.com/2014/01/15/cult-of-the-cyber-offensive/> accessed 15 July 2023. google scholar
  • Sönmezoğlu F, Uluslararası Politika ve Dış Politika Analizi (first published, Filiz Kitabevi 2000). google scholar
  • Tiirmaa-Klaar H, ‘Botnets, Cybercrime and National Security’ in H Tiirmaa-Klaar, J Gassen, E Gerhards-Padilla and P Martini (eds) Springer Briefs in Cyber Security - Botnets (Springer, 2013) 1-40. google scholar
  • Tsagourias N, ‘Law, Borders and the Territorialisation of Cyberspace’, (2018) 15(4) Indonesian Journal ofInternational Law 523-551. google scholar
  • Tsagourias N, The Legal Status of Cyberspace: Sovereignty Redux?,’ in N Tsagourias and R google scholar
  • Buchan (eds) Research Handbook on International Law and Cyberspace (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021) 9-31. google scholar
  • von Heinegg W H, ‘Legal Implications of Territorial Sovereignty in Cyberspace’ (Proceedings of 2012 4th International Conference on Cyber Conflict - NATO CCD COE Publications, 2012) 7-19 <https://www.ccdcoe.org/uploads/2012/01/1_1_von_Heinegg_ google scholar
  • LegalImplicationsOfTerritorialSovereigntyInCyberspace.pdf> accessed 4 May 2023. google scholar
  • Waltz E, Information Warfare: Principles and Operations (first published 1998, Artech House 1998). google scholar
  • Wu T H, ‘Cyberspace Sovereignty? The Internet and the International System’ (1997) 10(3) Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 647-666. google scholar
  • Ziolkowski K, ‘Confidence Building Measures for Cyberspace’ in K Ziolkowski (ed), Peacetime Regime for State Activities in Cyberspace - International Law, International Relations and Diplomacy (NATO CCD COE Publication, 2013). google scholar
Year 2023, Issue: 73, 327 - 344, 24.11.2023
https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2023.73.0010

Abstract

References

  • Allen S, ‘Enforcing Criminal Jurisdiction in the Clouds and International Law’s google scholar
  • Enduring Commitment to Territoriality’ in S Allen, D Costelloe, M Fitzmaurice, P Gragl, and E Guntrip (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Jurisdiction in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2019) 1-35. google scholar
  • Betz D J and Stevens T, Cyberspace and the State: Toward a Strategy for Cyber Power (first published, Routledge, 2011). google scholar
  • Buchan R, Cyber Espionage and International Law (first published 2018, Hart Publishing, 2019). google scholar
  • Carr M, US Power and the Internet in International Relations: The Irony of the Information Age (first published, Palgrave Macmillan 2016). google scholar
  • Couture S and Toupin S, ‘What Does the Notion “Sovereignty” Mean When Referring to the Digital’ (2019) 21(10) New Media & Society 1-18. google scholar
  • Crawford J, Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, 8th edition, 2012). google scholar
  • Dannat G, ‘How Cloud Computing Complicates the Jurisdiction of State Law’ (E-International Relations, 14 September 2012) < https://www.e-ir.info/2012/09/14/how-cloud-computing-complicates-the-jurisdiction-of-state-law/> accessed 8 September 2023. google scholar
  • Deibert R J and Rohozinski R, ‘Risking Security: Policies and Paradoxes of Cyberspace Security’ (2010) 4(1), International Political Sociology 15-32. google scholar
  • Demchak C C and Dombrowski P, ‘Rise of a Cybered Westphalian Age’ (2011) 5(1) Strategic Studies Quarterly 32-61. google scholar
  • Ecemiş Yılmaz H K, ‘Siber Uzay, Siber Güvenlik, Dijital Egemenlik Kavramlarının Uluslararası Hukuk Bağlamında Değerlendirilmesi’ (2021) 12(9) ULİSA- Mühendislik, Hukuk, İletişim ve İktisat Perspektifinden Siber Güvenlik ve Sosyal Medya 21-26. google scholar
  • Franzese P W, ‘Sovereignty in Cyberspace: Can It Exist?’ (2009) 64 Air Force Law Review 1-42. google scholar
  • Gibson W, Neuromancer (first published, Ace 1984). google scholar
  • Gourley S K, ‘Cyber Sovereignty’ in P A Yannakogeorgos and A B Lowther (eds) Conflict and Cooperation in Cyberspace: The Challenge to National Security (Taylor & Francis, 2014) 277290. google scholar
  • Güntay V, ‘21. Yüzyıl Paradoksu Olarak Siber Uzay ve Uluslararası Hukuk’ (2019) 1(2) Novus Orbis Journal of Politics and International Relations 87-109. google scholar
  • Haataja S, ‘Cyber Operations against Critical Infrastructure Under Norms of Responsible State Behaviour and International Law’ (2022) 30(4) International Journal of Law and Information Technology 423-443. google scholar
  • Hassan D, ‘The Rise of the Territorial State and the Treaty of Westphalia’ in G M (ed) Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence (University of Waikato School of Law, 2006) 62-70. google scholar
  • Herrera G L, ‘Cyberspace and Sovereignty: Thoughts of Physical Space and Digital Space’, in M D Cavelty, V Maurer and S F Krishna-Hensel (eds) Power and Security in the Information Age: Investigating the Role of the State in Cyberspace (Ashgate, 2007) 67-93. google scholar
  • Hollis D B, ‘A Brief Primer on International Law and Cyberspace’ (Carneige Endowment for International Peace, June 2021) <https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/14/brief-primer-on-international-law-and-cyberspace-pub-84763> accessed 26 June 2023. google scholar
  • Hollis D B, ‘From Corollaries to Contents? Elaborating the Principle of Non-intervention in Cyberspace’ in F Delerue and A Gery (eds) International Law and Cybersecurity Governance (European Union Institute for Security Studies, 2022) 51-58. google scholar
  • Hörnle J, Internet Jurisdiction - Law and Practice (Oxford University Press, 1st edn, 2019). google scholar
  • Janssens P C and Wouters J, ‘Informal International Law-Making: A Way Around the Deadlock of International Humanitarian Law?’ (2022) 104(920-921) International Review of the Red Cross, 2111-2130. google scholar
  • Karadağ Ş, ‘Siber Uzayda Uluslararası Hukuk Mümkün Mü?’ (2019) 5(36) International Social Sciences Studies Journal 2827-2833. google scholar
  • Kello L, ‘The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution’ (2013) 38(2) International Security 7-40. google scholar
  • Keohane R O and Nye J S, ‘Power and Interdependence in the Information Age’ (1998) 77(5), Foreign Affairs 81-94. google scholar
  • Kshetri N, ‘Cybercrime and Cyber-security Issues Associated with China: Some Economic and Institutional Considerations’ (2013) 13(1) Electronic Commerce Research 41-69. google scholar
  • Kuehl D T, ‘From Cyberspace to Cyberpower: Defining the Problem’ in F D Kramer, S H Starr and L K Wentz (eds), Cyberpower and National Security (National Defense University Press, 2009) 24-42. google scholar
  • Lan T and Xin Z, ‘Can Cyber Deterrence Work?’ in A Nagorski (ed), Global Cyber Deterrence: Views From China, The U.S., Russia, India, and Norway (East-West Institute, 2010) 1-2. google scholar
  • Liarapoulos A, ‘Power and Security in Cyberspace: Implications for the Westphalian State System’ Panorama of Global Security Environment (Bratislava: Centre for European and North American Affairs, 2011) 541-549. google scholar
  • Libicki M C, Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar (RAND Corporation, 2009) <https://www.rand.org/ content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG877.pdf> accessed 30 April 2023. google scholar
  • Maurer T, ‘Cyber Norm Emergence at the United Nations - An Analysis of the UN’s Activities Regarding Cyber-security’ (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Discussion Paper, 2011-11) <https://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/cybersecurity/maurer-cyber-norm-dp-2011-11. pdf> accessed 15 July 2023. google scholar
  • Moynihan H, ‘The Application of International Law to State Cyberattacks Sovereignty and Non-intervention’ (Chatham House, December 2019) <https://www.chathamhouse.org/2019/12/ application-international-law-state-cyberattacks> accessed 1 July 2023. google scholar
  • Nye J S, ‘Cyber Power’ (Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, May 2010) <https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/cyber-power.pdf> accessed 15 April 2023. google scholar
  • Nye J S, The Future of Power (first published, PublicAffairs, 2011). google scholar
  • Nye J S, ‘The Regime Complex for Managing Global Cyber Activities’ (The Global Commission on Internet Governance and Chatham House, May 2014) <https://www.cigionline.org/static/ documents/gcig_paper_no1.pdf> accessed 15 April 2023 google scholar
  • Pauwelyn J, “Informal International Lawmaking: Framing the Concept and Research Questions”, in J Pauwelyn, R A Wessel and J Wouters (eds), Informal International Law-Making (Oxford University Press, 2014) 13-34 google scholar
  • Rauscher K F, ‘First Joint Russian-U.S. report on Cyber Conflict’ (EastWest Institute, 2011) www.eastwest.ngo/idea/towards-rules-governing-cyber-conflict-0> accessed 15 April 2023. google scholar
  • Ryngaert C, Jurisdiction in International Law (first published 2008, Oxford University Press, 2019) 5. google scholar
  • Schmitt M N, ‘International Law in Cyberspace: The Koh Speech and Tallinn Manual Juxtaposed’ (2013) 54(5) Harvard International Law Journal Online 13-37<https://harvardilj.org/2012/12/ online-articles-online_54_schmitt/> 31 accessed 15 July 2023. google scholar
  • Schmitt M. N. (ed), Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations (first published, Cambridge University Press, 2017). google scholar
  • Singer P W and Friedman A, ‘Cult of the Cyber Offensive’ (2014) Foreign Policy 182 <http:// foreignpolicy.com/2014/01/15/cult-of-the-cyber-offensive/> accessed 15 July 2023. google scholar
  • Sönmezoğlu F, Uluslararası Politika ve Dış Politika Analizi (first published, Filiz Kitabevi 2000). google scholar
  • Tiirmaa-Klaar H, ‘Botnets, Cybercrime and National Security’ in H Tiirmaa-Klaar, J Gassen, E Gerhards-Padilla and P Martini (eds) Springer Briefs in Cyber Security - Botnets (Springer, 2013) 1-40. google scholar
  • Tsagourias N, ‘Law, Borders and the Territorialisation of Cyberspace’, (2018) 15(4) Indonesian Journal ofInternational Law 523-551. google scholar
  • Tsagourias N, The Legal Status of Cyberspace: Sovereignty Redux?,’ in N Tsagourias and R google scholar
  • Buchan (eds) Research Handbook on International Law and Cyberspace (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021) 9-31. google scholar
  • von Heinegg W H, ‘Legal Implications of Territorial Sovereignty in Cyberspace’ (Proceedings of 2012 4th International Conference on Cyber Conflict - NATO CCD COE Publications, 2012) 7-19 <https://www.ccdcoe.org/uploads/2012/01/1_1_von_Heinegg_ google scholar
  • LegalImplicationsOfTerritorialSovereigntyInCyberspace.pdf> accessed 4 May 2023. google scholar
  • Waltz E, Information Warfare: Principles and Operations (first published 1998, Artech House 1998). google scholar
  • Wu T H, ‘Cyberspace Sovereignty? The Internet and the International System’ (1997) 10(3) Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 647-666. google scholar
  • Ziolkowski K, ‘Confidence Building Measures for Cyberspace’ in K Ziolkowski (ed), Peacetime Regime for State Activities in Cyberspace - International Law, International Relations and Diplomacy (NATO CCD COE Publication, 2013). google scholar
There are 51 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Law in Context (Other)
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Ebru Oğurlu 0000-0003-0538-5985

Publication Date November 24, 2023
Submission Date July 27, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Issue: 73

Cite

APA Oğurlu, E. (2023). International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals. Annales De La Faculté De Droit d’Istanbul(73), 327-344. https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2023.73.0010
AMA Oğurlu E. International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul. November 2023;(73):327-344. doi:10.26650/annales.2023.73.0010
Chicago Oğurlu, Ebru. “International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals”. Annales De La Faculté De Droit d’Istanbul, no. 73 (November 2023): 327-44. https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2023.73.0010.
EndNote Oğurlu E (November 1, 2023) International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul 73 327–344.
IEEE E. Oğurlu, “International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals”, Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul, no. 73, pp. 327–344, November 2023, doi: 10.26650/annales.2023.73.0010.
ISNAD Oğurlu, Ebru. “International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals”. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul 73 (November 2023), 327-344. https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2023.73.0010.
JAMA Oğurlu E. International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul. 2023;:327–344.
MLA Oğurlu, Ebru. “International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals”. Annales De La Faculté De Droit d’Istanbul, no. 73, 2023, pp. 327-44, doi:10.26650/annales.2023.73.0010.
Vancouver Oğurlu E. International Law in Cyberspace: An Evaluation of the Tallinn Manuals. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul. 2023(73):327-44.