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6 - The Security Council and the Use of Force
Michael Wood, Eran Sthoeger
Book:

The UN Security Council and International Law

Published online:

02 June 2022

Print publication:

09 June 2022, pp 116-135
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Summary

This chapter focuses specifically on the Council’s contribution to the international law on the use of force (the jus ad bellum), an area of international law that is central to the Security Council’s role in the maintenance of international peace and security and the collective security system of the United Nations. The chapter addresses, first, the general state of the rules of international law on the use of force (the jus ad bellum). It then outlines the rules themselves. This is followed by sections relating directly to the Security Council: the prohibition of the use of force; the use of force by or authorized by the Council; the Council and the right of self-defence; and the Council and ‘humanitarian intervention’ and ‘responsibility to protect’.

Michael Wood, Eran Sthoeger
Published online:

02 June 2022

Print publication:

09 June 2022
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The UN Security Council and International Law explores the legal powers, limits and potential of the United Nations Security Council, offering a broadly positive (and positivist) account of the Council's work in practice. This book aims to answer questions such as 'when are Council decisions binding and on whom?', 'what legal constraints exist on Council decision making?' and 'how far is the Council bound by international law?'. Defining the controlling legal rules and differentiating between what the Council can do, as opposed to what it should do as a matter of policy, this book offers both a tool for assessment of the Council as well as realistic solutions to address its deficiencies, and, most importantly, evaluates its potential for maintaining international peace and security, to the benefit of us all.

A Redistribution of Authority Between the UN and Regional Organizations in the Field of the Maintenance of Peace and Security?
Zsuzsanna Deen-Racsmány
Journal:

Leiden Journal of International Law / Volume 13 / Issue 2 / June 2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:

03 March 2004, pp. 297-331

Print publication:

June 2000
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The UN Charter and customary law contain significant ambiguities concerning the prohibition of enforcement measures by regional organizations. This fact – coupled with practical necessity – appears to have been responsible for the failure of the UN to condemn the unauthorized use of force by regional organizations in Liberia and Sierra Leone. These cases and legal doctrine suggested increasing regional autonomy in this field. Although reactions to Operation Allied Force in Kosovo cooled the enthusiasm of those who wished for the legitimization of such actions, evidence suggests that under certain circumstances unauthorized regional enforcement measures may at least avoid condemnation.