scholarly journals Empirical research of the role of international law in the work of the UN Security Council

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 427-451
Author(s):  
Tatjana Milić
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Introductory Part ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Basic Features

Interest of international law scholars into an empirical research has increased in the last decade. This paper is an example of one such research. The author has empirically analyzed positions on the use of force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to test hypothesis about the operational role of international law in the work of the UN Security Council: whether it was used in the formation of positions, in the assessment of the situation, and in proposing its solution. Introductory part of the paper presented basic features and development of empirical research of international law. It is followed by the review of theoretical assumptions on the role of international law. Next sections of the paper presented hypothetical framework, methods and results of this empirical research. Finally, the author made concluding remarks on research findings, as well as emphasized necessity to develop practical knowledge on empirical research of international law and to open a discussion on the potential and limits of its application.

What Future for the UN Charter System of War Prevention?

2003 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 590-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Falk
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Inspection Process ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Relationship

President George W. Bush historically challenged the United Nations Security Council when he uttered some memorable words in the course of his September 12, 2002, speech to the General Assembly: “Will the UN serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?” In the aftermath of the Iraq war there are at least two answers to this question. The answer of the U.S. government would be to suggest that the United Nations turned out to be irrelevant due to its failure to endorse recourse to war against the Iraq of Saddam Hussein. The answer of those who opposed the war is that the UN Security Council served the purpose of its founding by its refusal to endorse recourse to a war that could not be persuasively reconciled with the UN Charter and international law. This difference of assessment is not just factual, whether Iraq was a threat and whether the inspection process was succeeding at a reasonable pace; it was also conceptual, even jurisprudential. The resolution of this latter debate is likely to shape the future role of the United Nations, as well as influence the attitude of the most powerful sovereign state as to the relationship between international law generally and the use of force as an instrument of foreign policy.

scholarly journals 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UN: HOPES AND REALITIES

2021 ◽  
pp. 38-52
Author(s):  
E. L. Kuzmin
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International System ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
The Us ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Special Rules

Examining the history of the UN creation in the first part of the article, the author focuses on an exceptionally significant issue settled in 1945 during the Crimean Conference of the Heads of the Three Great Powers, namely: the order of voting in the UN Security Council. Various appeals to renounce the “veto” of permanent members of the UN Security Council enshrined in the UN Charter have become the main leitmotif of numerous attempts of the United States and their closest allies to revise the UN Charter. Reviewing such proposals, the author notes that populist ideas the essence of which constitutes the call to replace, based on the principles of equality of all States, an international Organization by a supranational structure whose activities would actually be based on the principle of “who has force, has power” have been disseminated in Western political and scientific circles.The author goes on to consider the crucial question: whether the Organization have been able to cope with its main mission: to maintain international peace and security?Listing the outstanding universal documents of our time developed in the bowels of the UN, the author calls the most notable, in his opinion, achievement of the Organization — a real liberation of dozens of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America from colonial oppression. Analyzing the activities of the UN, the author acknowledges that the Organization in many respects is still far from its unifying convergent essence: the US and its NATO allies lead the policy aiming at crashing the system of international relations, based on the central role of the UN in world politics; the US promote a concept that implies the creation of closed alliances to develop and implement measures bypassing the UN. Amid such realities, Russia, seeking to strengthen multilateral principles in international affairs, emphasizes the creation of a self-regulating international system, which requires collective leadership of the leading States that is represented geographically and civilizationally, and exercised with full respect for the central and coordinating role of the United Nations.The article also draws attention to the fact that modern reality identifies more and more intractable problems, which often lead to the “autonomization” of international law: “niches” that are not filled with legal material inevitably give rise to situations where the gaps concerned are governed by particular and special rules based on bilateral or regional foundations, The author sees the empowerment of international law in the approval of principles of intercivilizational communication, the pursuance of synthesis of various legal systems, ideologies, cultures, religions and other spiritual values, which would provide a reliable basis for strengthening the importance and influence of international law.

scholarly journals What Does the Uniting for Peace Resolution Mean for the Role of the UN Security Council?

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 118-122
Author(s):  
Ieva Miluna
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Constant Control ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Normative Role

The Uniting for Peace resolution together with the UN Charter prescribes a certain role for the General Assembly with regard to international peace and security. Larry Johnson addresses that role, but he does not consider a second question: how does the Uniting for Peace resolution affect the UN Security Council? The normative role of the Council is influenced not only by the Charter, but also by general international law. In this comment, I explore the normative role of the Council in fulfilling the Charter’s purpose to maintain international peace and security. I argue that the text of the Charter and the prior practice of both the Assembly and the Council help to determine the proper division of these organs’ respective tasks within the Charter system. I conclude that the Council alone exercises the constant control needed to enforce measures of collective security effectively, and that the Assembly is limited to recommending the consequences for states when threats or breaches of the peace occur.

Revisiting Security Council action on terrorism: New threats; (a lot of) new law; same old problems?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
David McKeever
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
New Type ◽  
Recent Activity ◽  
Legislative Activity ◽  
Recent Action ◽  
Organizing Principles ◽  
Law Making

Abstract The devastating events of 9/11 triggered the adoption of Resolution 1373 (2001) by the UN Security Council, a contentious development which was much debated and was widely seen as presaging a new type of activity by the Security Council – legislating for all UN member states. And yet, in the counter-terrorism sphere at least, the Council’s legislative activity in the years following 9/11 was relatively modest. Both quantitatively and qualitatively, that activity has been far exceeded by the Council’s response to the emergence of ISIL in 2014. This more recent activity is of interest beyond the confines of counter-terrorism, but has received far less scrutiny to date. This article will remedy this gap, revisiting, in light of the recent activity, the relative merits and disadvantages of making counter-terrorism law through Security Council resolutions. It makes two main contentions. The first is that – due to some factors which were anticipated in the early 2000s and many which were not – Security Council resolutions on terrorism constitute a distinctive category of international law-making and pose serious challenges for the application of organizing principles and processes of general international law. The second is that, for these reasons as well as doubts as to the necessity and efficacy of recent action, making counter-terrorism law through Security Council resolutions should be the exception rather than the norm.

Rwanda: the Political Failure of the UN Security Council

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 17-39
Author(s):  
Ambassador Colin Keating
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
The Political ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Political Failure

This article discusses the role of the UN Security Council during the crisis in Rwanda in 1993/94. It focuses on the peacekeeping dimensions of the Council’s involvement. It is a perspective from a practitioner, rather than an academic. It also makes some observations about whether the Rwanda crisis has had an enduring influence on Security Council practice. It does not address the impact on practical aspects of peacekeeping or on the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Mosul Four and Iran Six

2018 ◽  
pp. 284-293
Author(s):  
Alex Mills
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Commercial Aircraft ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
State Immunity ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
History Of

This chapter explores the practical entanglement of questions of public and private international law through an examination of the history of ten commercial aircraft belonging to Kuwait Airways Corporation. The aircraft were seized by Iraq after the unlawful 1990 invasion of Kuwait, flown to Baghdad, and handed over to Iraqi Airways. Proceedings seeking return of the aircraft and damages were commenced by Kuwait Airways against Iraqi Airways in the English courts, a further saga which led to more than thirty reported cases, including a remarkable five decisions of the House of Lords. The dispute raised a range of issues, including questions of jurisdiction, state immunity, and perhaps most significantly the potential for public international law to be given effect through domestic private law proceedings, in this case as a source of public policy denying effect to acts of Iraqi law which were contrary to UN Security Council resolutions.

Competence over Control

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-99
Author(s):  
Alexander Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Level ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Over Time

The UN Security Council increasingly authorizes weapons inspections to enforce nonproliferation. These are cases of indirect governance, where the Council (the governor) relies on separate bodies (intermediaries) to conduct inspections in states of concern (targets). Despite the risks, the Council often seems willing to forego control in return for gaining the benefits of a competent intermediary that can address its ambitious policy goals and capability deficits. These cases point to important differences between preexisting intermediaries (such as the IAEA and OPCW) and ad hoc intermediaries created for specific tasks (such as the inspection commissions that operated in Iraq). The latter are far more amendable to control, both ex ante and ex post. Over time, we see increasing goal divergence between the governor and intermediaries, driven mainly by the shifting interests of Security Council members, but we also see the competence of intermediaries increase as they gain on-the-ground experience, making control more difficult. The collective nature of the Security Council further complicates control efforts, creating a temptation for individual members to interfere unilaterally with intermediaries and targets. The analysis suggests that the role of sovereign, strategic targets deserves more attention in the study of indirect governance at the international level.

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