A New Mandate for the Revived UN Trusteeship Council1

Reviving the United Nations Trusteeship Council (UNTC) and the evolution of the idea of trust in the global domain underscores that there are places, territories, and areas known as ‘global commons’ that require special and careful nurturing. The TC under the UN Charter sought to continue the spirit and essence of the ‘sacred trust’ with a ‘new mandate,’ even as it now lies dormant since 1994. From a scholarly perspective, such a move eminently makes sense since it could bring to life an entity within the UN. It will essentially serve as a guardian of the global ‘common concerns’ and ‘common heritage of mankind’ as well as the global environment. It would serve as a trustee for the present and future generations of humankind. A revived TC with a new mandate (for the environment and the global commons) could strengthen the UN and vindicate one of the core purposes for which the ‘United Nations’ came together (in 1945) with a solemn resolve “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained”

Common Concepts of Immanuel Kant's "The Perpetual Peace" and The Charter of the United Nations

Studies in Global Ethics and Global Education ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0013.2506 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 47-55

Author(s):

Aleksandra Musiał

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

International Court Of Justice ◽

The Core ◽

Perpetual Peace ◽

Court Of Justice ◽

Sovereign Equality ◽

International Court ◽

Rules Of Procedure ◽

The essay compares selected Kantian ideas stated in The Perpetual Peace with the institutions established by the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The concept of a nation and its position in international law in view of the Charter will be presented and linked with the Kantian theory of sovereignty of Nations. The core of the paper is an afterthought on the supremacy of three separate powers over the Nations, hence the question of the rules of procedure held by the International Court of Justice will be regarded as the consequence of the idea of sovereign equality. The Kantian concept: "Nations, as states, may be judged like individuals”: (Kant, 1917, p. 128) is observed from the perspective of state’s demand for independence. The institution of the International Court of Justice is presented as a universal supreme body. The key issue of the essay is the federative character of union as a guarantee of eternal peace seen as common point in both of the documents discussed.

Common Heritage of Mankind and the Deep Seabed Area Beyond National Jurisdiction: Past, Current, and Future Prospects

Marine Technology Society Journal ◽

10.4031/mtsj.55.6.10 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 55 (6) ◽

pp. 40-52

Author(s):

Edwin Egede ◽

Eden Charles

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

Biological Diversity ◽

Sustainable Use ◽

Future Prospects ◽

Common Heritage ◽

United Nations General ◽

National Jurisdiction ◽

The United Nations ◽

International Seabed Authority

Abstract The common heritage of mankind (CHM) is of a relatively recent origin. This study examines Arvid Pardo's speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 1967, in which he urged that body to designate the seabed beyond national control as CHM. The commentary next looks at Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 82, as amended by the 1994 Agreement, which incorporates the CHM as a core principle governing mineral mining in the deep bottom area beyond national jurisdiction. Finally, it discusses CHM's future prospects in relation to the draft International Seabed Authority (ISA) Exploitation Regulations, the Enterprise, an ISA organ that has yet to be operationalized, and ongoing discussions about an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity under the UNCLOS. The purpose of this study is to highlight the complexity surrounding the CHM, which is a key principle governing deep seabed activities.

Interpretations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by International Courts and Tribunals ◽

The Interpretative Value of the Principle of the Common Heritage of Mankind and the Interests and Needs of Developing Countries in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

10.1007/978-3-030-10773-4_9 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 139-152

Author(s):

Enrico Zamuner

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

United Nations ◽

Law Of The Sea ◽

Common Heritage ◽

The Common ◽

United Nations Convention ◽

The United Nations ◽

The Law

China’s stance towards the applicability of the common heritage of mankind governance regime to the Arctic

Journal of Law and Administration ◽

10.24833/2073-8420-2018-2-47-13-21 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 13-21

Author(s):

E. V. Kienko

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

The Arctic ◽

Law Of The Sea ◽

Republic Of China ◽

Common Heritage ◽

Governance Regime ◽

The Common ◽

The Law

Introduction.The article provides an analysis of China’s tough stance towards the applicability of the governance regime of the common heritage of mankind to the Arctic referring to the Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, in the general context of contemporary international law. Materials and methods.General scientific and private scientific methods of cognition constitutes the methodological basis for the study. Results of the study.In the course of the study the author concludes that China’s current stance towards the governance regime of the International seabed area as the common heritage of mankind and towards the international maritime law as a whole should not have exclusively negative assessments as it was during the period of the confrontation between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China in 1960-1980. Objectively the long-term interests of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation in the maintenance of international maritime law are aligned. However, a contemporary legal policy of China differs from the policy stated at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. It became more focused on the promotion of China’s national interests in the Arctic, on the creation of the Area of the common heritage of mankind in the Arctic Ocean, even though none of the Arctic Coastal State advocate this stance. Conclusions.In this article the author balances China’s arguments in favour of applicability of norms of the international law related to the common heritage of mankind to the Arctic with the Arctic Coastal States’ arguments against it according to the doctrine in the sphere of the international law in which the legal concept of the common heritage of mankind is clarified. The author reveals reasons of China’s support of the concept of the common heritage of mankind initiated by the USA and China’s effort to broadly interpret it especially towards the Arctic in terms of the Arctic Coastal States’ stance towards this issue contained in the materials of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1973 – 1982).

Law Meets Literature: Raphael Lemkin and Genocide Studies

Pólemos ◽

10.1515/pol-2018-0024 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 429-447

Author(s):

Ruth Amir

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

The Core ◽

Genocide Studies ◽

Multiple Voices ◽

United Nations Convention ◽

The United Nations ◽

Social Languages ◽

Origin Myth ◽

Death Of The Author

Abstract Raphael Lemkin (1900–1959) was a Polish-Jewish jurist who coined the term genocide and worked tirelessly for its codification in the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide as a crime under international law. Most of his writings on genocide were published around fifty years posthumously as the core of the field of genocide studies that emerged in the 1990s. Bearing the sense of inseparability of Lemkin the author and his writings, this article concerns the death-of-the-author postulate amid the origin myth that surrounds him. It engages in his strategies for resisting his death as an author and with the multiple professional, political, and social languages that probe and transgress their respective genres. While genocide studies now seem to reluctantly critique Lemkin’s ideas, they nevertheless remain captivated by Lemkin the author and seem to be affected by his passion, multiple voices, languages, and genres. In this they tread in his footsteps in both form and content.

Making the United Nations Work for Global Commons: Amending the UN Charter

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2158766 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Kalpana Murari

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

Global Commons ◽

China, the UN, and Human Protection

10.1093/oso/9780198843733.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rosemary Foot

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

Public Goods ◽

World Order ◽

Active Engagement ◽

Fair Share ◽

Global Order ◽

The Core ◽

Short Period ◽

The Future ◽

Over a relatively short period of time, Beijing moved from passive involvement with the UN to active engagement. How are we to make sense of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) embrace of the UN, and what does its engagement mean in larger terms? Is it a ‘supporter’ that takes its fair share of responsibilities, or a ‘spoiler’ that seeks to transform the UN’s contribution to world order? Certainly, it is difficult to label it a ‘shirker’ in the last decade or more, given Beijing’s apparent appreciation of the UN, its provision of public goods to the organization, and its stated desire to offer ‘Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to solving the problems facing mankind’. This study traces questions such as these, interrogating the value of such categorization through direct focus on Beijing’s involvement in one of the most contentious areas of UN activity—human protection—contentious because the norm of human protection tips the balance away from the UN’s Westphalian state-based profile, towards the provision of greater protection for the security of individuals and their individual liberties. The argument that follows shows that, as an ever-more crucial actor within the United Nations, Beijing’s rhetoric and some of its practices are playing an increasingly important role in determining how this norm is articulated and interpreted. In some cases, the PRC is also influencing how these ideas of human protection are implemented. At stake in the questions this book tackles is both how we understand the PRC as a participant in shaping global order, and the future of some of the core norms that constitute global order.

Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea

International Legal Materials ◽

10.1017/ilm.2019.5 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 399-413

Author(s):

Rizal Abdul Kadir

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

Caspian Sea ◽

Legal Status ◽

The Caspian Sea ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

After twenty-two years of negotiations, in Aktau on August 12, 2018, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, and Turkmenistan signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. The preamble of the Convention stipulates, among other things, that the Convention, made up of twenty-four articles, was agreed on by the five states based on principles and norms of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law. The enclosed Caspian Sea is bordered by Iran, Russia, and three states that were established following dissolution of the Soviet Union, namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.

International Law, COVID-19 and Feminist Engagement with the United Nations Security Council: The End of the Affair?

Feminist Legal Studies ◽

10.1007/s10691-020-09440-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 321-328

Author(s):

Catherine O’Rourke

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

Security Council ◽

United Nations Security Council ◽

Care Work ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Seminal Contribution ◽

The Everyday ◽

The United Nations ◽

Gender Based

AbstractThe gendered implications of COVID-19, in particular in terms of gender-based violence and the gendered division of care work, have secured some prominence, and ignited discussion about prospects for a ‘feminist recovery’. In international law terms, feminist calls for a response to the pandemic have privileged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), conditioned—I argue—by two decades of the pursuit of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda through the UNSC. The deficiencies of the UNSC response, as characterised by the Resolution 2532 adopted to address the pandemic, manifest yet again the identified deficiencies of the WPS agenda at the UNSC, namely fragmentation, securitisation, efficacy and legitimacy. What Resolution 2532 does bring, however, is new clarity about the underlying reasons for the repeated and enduring nature of these deficiencies at the UNSC. Specifically, the COVID-19 ‘crisis’ is powerful in exposing the deficiencies of the crisis framework in which the UNSC operates. My reflections draw on insights from Hilary Charlesworth’s seminal contribution ‘International Law: A Discipline of Crisis’ to argue that, instead of conceding the ‘crisis’ framework to the pandemic by prioritising the UNSC, a ‘feminist recovery’ must instead follow Charlesworth’s exhortation to refocus on an international law of the everyday.