reprisals

Reprisals are acts undertaken in response to a prior wrongdoing, intended to pressure the offending actor to comply with obligations. In international relations and law, the term is closely related to countermeasures or retaliatory actions that may be used to restore rights or obligations under international law.

For a reprisal to be lawful, it typically must be a proportional and temporary response to an internationally wrongful act. It should be aimed at inducing compliance rather than punishment, and it should respect core constraints of international humanitarian law, such as prohibitions on violence against civilians and against hostage-taking. Reprisals are supposed to be a last resort after the offending state has failed to rectify the situation.

Common forms include economic sanctions, trade restrictions, suspension of certain treaty obligations, or limited military measures that would be lawful countermeasures under international law. Reprisals must be reversible or time-bound and must cease when the underlying wrong is remedied.

Outside international law, the term is also used in domestic or organizational contexts to describe punitive actions against individuals for exercising rights, often referred to as retaliation; most modern legal frameworks seek to prohibit or limit such reprisals, especially against whistleblowers, workers, or protected classes.