scholarly journals Reparations for Mass Torts Involving the United Nations

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-67
Author(s):  
Carla Ferstman
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Avoidance Strategies ◽  
Institutional Liability ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Mass Torts ◽  
Significant Injury

In recent years, UN peacekeepers have been accused of several mass torts causing significant injury to host populations. Using the International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations as a backdrop, this article charts the efforts taken by host populations to seek reparation for the harms they suffered and the responses of the UN to arguments about their institutional liability and the consequential obligations to afford reparation. The author argues that the misapplication of the lex specialis principle has been central to the UN’s avoidance strategies.

Responsibility of the United Nations for the Activities of Private Military and Security Companies in Peacekeeping Operations: In Need of a New International Instrument

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-187
Author(s):  
Jessica Pressler
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Legal Obligation ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
World Organization ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Security Companies

This chapter deals with the rising deployment of private military and security companies (pmscs) in peacekeeping operations of the United Nations and the demand for an increased willingness on part of the international organisation to take on responsibility for potential wrongdoings by its contracted personnel. It aims to demonstrate that the un is vested with a legal obligation to ensure that the conduct of private contractors under its command complies with obligations under international law and identifies possibilities to formulate a new regulatory framework in light of the recent Montreux Process and the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations. The chapter further outlines ways for remedial mechanisms for potential victims of pmsc peacekeeper wrongdoings and offers an insight into the general tension between the organization’s immunity and its accountability. While the un’s reliance on pmscs in peacekeeping operations is an efficient mean to secure troops, it must go hand in hand with the compliance of international legal obligations and institutional responsibility so as to ensure its legitimacy and credibility as a world organization mandated to maintain peace and security and to respect human rights.

Beyond Srebrenica and Haiti

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 588-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Schrijver
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Member States ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Cold War

Since the end of the Cold War, international organizations have frequently called upon their member States to respect the principles of good governance and international law. Increasingly, however, questions are raised concerning the behaviour of international organizations themselves and whether their own practice corresponds to what they expect from their member States. In other words: do organizations practise what they preach? Since many international organizations aim to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, it is reasonable to consider the extent to which these organizations respect such rights and freedoms themselves. Given the immunity of the United Nations, this paper examines some alternative legal procedures for the settlement of claims against the United Nations, taking into consideration contemporary international principles in relation to access to court, due process and reparation. It concludes with a number of recommendations.

United Nations Constitutional Assistance

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-79
Author(s):  
Vijayashri Sripati
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
The United Nations

This chapter establishes United Nations Constitutional Assistance (UNCA) as a significant but uncharted international and constitutional law topic. UNCA is defined as a set of activities undertaken to produce/internationalize the Western liberal constitution. The Constitution’s salience is outlined to show that UNCA: sires UN/International Territorial Administration; is salient vis-à-vis the UN’s assistance in all other sectors (e.g., electoral, judicial, rule of law); and underpins UN peacebuilding/UN Statebuilding. This backdrop sets the stage for the book’s mission: to analyze UNCA through the concept of ‘Policy Institution’ and Purposive Analysis (analysis of the UN’s official statements). Which is: to investigate and identify the Constitution’s internationalization by international organizations (e.g., the League of Nations and the United Nations); to analyse how the Constitution and its purposes fit into international law and public policy; to consider how states internationalized the Constitution to achieve colonial trusteeship; and to explain how the legitimacy of UNCA with, and without ITA might be appraised in the light of this analysis.

International Law and U.S. Withholding of Payments to International Organizations

1986 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 973-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
The United States ◽  
The United Nations

On March 12, 1986, Ambassador Vernon A. Walters, the United States representative at the United Nations, said: [T]he prospect is for the withholding by the United States of a very sizable amount. … This inevitably would raise the question of whether the non-payment of a substantial amount could constitute a material breach of the United States obligation under Article 17 of the U.N. Charter to pay our duly assessed share of the U.N. budget. This is an issue of which we must be aware.

scholarly journals The Use of PMSCs by the United Nations in Times of Armed Conflict, Application of IHL and Responsibility Matters

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Gamarro González
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The United Nations

The companies dealing with military and security matters are on the rise, and today they provide services to a very wide client list, which includes states and international organizations (IOs). It is well known that these companies have been deployed in a large number of armed conflicts, and indeed, some of them have become prominent in the sector not only for their military results but also for their abuses of international humanitarian law and human rights. Surprisingly, it is lesser known that the United Nations (UN) has also had recourse to private military and security companies in the context of United Nations military operations with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security.The engagement of private military security companies in UN peace operations entails multiple legal questions. This dissertation is especially intended to shed some light over the extent to which PMSCs deployment in UN peace operations is compatible with international humanitarian law and how the law of institutional responsibility deals with the violations of international humanitarian law committed by such companies when providing services to the UN. For that purpose and to that extent due recourse has been made to the most relevant international law sources on the matter, such as the Geneva Conventions, their Additional Protocols, and other relevant instruments such as the ILC Articles on State and IO responsibility, and the Montreux Document. Jus cogens and international custom, including the practice of international organizations and states, and opinion juris as ascertained by legal scholars and the International Court of Justice, play an essential role in this dissertation, since the United Nations has not become yet a party to any IHL treaty, thus employing an inductive methodology. A comparative approach was adopted in regard to the observations of the most eminent institutions and jurists, and domestic and international courts, including the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights for the purpose of ascertaining the different rules of attribution of conduct existing in international law. Besides, certain decisions of the latter Court were analysed in order to clarify by analogy whether the application of international humanitarian law and the imputation of acts can function under the same degree of control test.

scholarly journals Nongovernmental Organizations and International Law

2006 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Charnovitz
Keyword(s):  
Nongovernmental Organizations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
General Thesis ◽  
Profound Influence ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Temple

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have exerted a profound influence on the scope and dictates of international law. NGOs have fostered treaties, promoted the creation of new international organizations (IOs), and lobbied in national capitals to gain consent to stronger international rules. A decade ago, Antonio Donini, writing about the United Nations, declared that “the Temple of States would be a rather dull place without nongovernmental organisations.” His observation was apt and is suggestive of a more general thesis: had NGOs never existed, international law would have a less vital role in human progress.

Part 2 The United Nations: What it is, 13 Responsibility of the United Nations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Higgins Dame Rosalyn, DBE, QC ◽  
Webb Philippa ◽  
Akande Dapo ◽  
Sivakumaran Sandesh ◽  
Sloan James
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Limited Applicability ◽  
The Status ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
International Law Commission

The question of the responsibility of international organizations has been considered in depth by international bodies, and has been the subject of Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations (DARIO), finalized by the International Law Commission in 2011. However, there are aspects that remain uncertain due to the limited applicability of the principles of state responsibility to the UN, the status of DARIO as progressive development rather than codification of international law, the few express statements on responsibility in international instruments, and scant practice. This chapter discusses the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations; attribution of conduct; allocating responsibility between the UN and member states; unequal access to dispute settlement mechanisms; immunity of the UN in national proceedings; circumstances precluding wrongfulness; consequences of a finding of responsibility; the implementation of the international responsibility of an international organization; and responsibility of the UN in peacekeeping operations.

THE UNITED NATIONS AT 70 YEARS: THE IMPACT UPON INTERNATIONAL LAW

2015 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalyn Higgins
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Impact

This article is about the United Nations (UN) and International Law. It is not about internal developments at the UN. It is not about new Committees or other UN structures, relations with Specialized Agencies or indeed other major international organizations. I have not taken a snapshot today, but rather seek to show how the UN has, through the 70 years of its existence, had an impact on international law.

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