An international legal order must have rules in regard to the settlement of disputes. These rules are particularly necessary in an international community where States are not equal in terms of diplomatic power, access to weapons or access to resources, and where there is the potential for massive harm to people and to territory. This chapter discusses the general obligation on States; non-judicial settlement procedures; arbitration; specific international tribunals; the International Court of Justice and its interaction with the Security Council.
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16. Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes
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10. Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes
An international legal order must have rules in regard to the settlement of disputes. These rules are particularly necessary in an international community where all States are not equal in terms of diplomatic power, access to weapons or access to resources, and where there is the potential for massive harm to people and to territory by States. This chapter discusses the general international legal obligations on States to settle disputes; non-judicial settlement procedures; arbitration; specific international tribunals; and the International Court of Justice and its interaction with the Security Council.
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11. The Use of Force, Collective Security and Peacekeeping
International law aims to regulate the use of force in two ways. First, it stipulates that there is a paramount obligation not to use force to settle disputes, with only limited exceptions; and second, it has at its disposal a procedure whereby the international community itself may use force against those using violence. These are known respectively as the rules on the ‘unilateral use of force’ and the rules of ‘collective security’, both of which are discussed in this chapter. This chapter also explores individual criminal responsibility for the crime of aggression.
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33. Use or threat of force by states
This chapter discusses international law governing the use or threat of force by states. The UN Security Council has primary responsibility for enforcement action to deal with breaches of the peace, threats to the peace, or acts of aggression. Individual member states have the right of individual or collective self-defence, but only ‘until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security’. However, the practice has evolved of authorizing peacekeeping operations that are contingent upon the consent of the state whose territory is the site of the operations.
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16. Collective Security and the use of Armed Force
Paola Gaeta, Jorge E. Viñuales, and Salvatore Zappalà
The Cold War era prevented the UN Security Council from using most of the powers provided for by the UN Charter, including adopting measures under Chapter VII (the so-called ‘collective security system’ which provides for measures ranging from sanctions to the use of armed force) for events deemed (by the Security Council) to be threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, or acts of aggression. However, the end of the Cold War enabled the Security Council to take some of the measures short of force envisaged in Article 41 and to interpret creatively the provisions of the Charter so as to authorize enforcement action through the use of armed force by individual States or coalitions of States. This chapter discusses measures short of armed force; peacekeeping operations; resort to force by States, as well as regional and other organizations, upon authorization of the Security Council; the special case of authorization to use force given by the General Assembly; as well as the right to self-defence and the various situations in which armed force has been used unilaterally by States.
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3. The United Nations
This chapter examines the work of the United Nations (UN) in the area of human rights. It discusses the evolution of human rights under the auspices of the UN as well as some of the early influences on human rights. The influence of the Nuremberg trials, the abolition of slavery, and the protection of vulnerable groups on the development of human rights protection law are discussed. Relevant institutions and bodies working under the auspices of the United Nations are also discussed. The chapter explains the functions and responsibilities of these bodies and highlights the financial and personnel constraints that negatively affect the performance of their duties.
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29. Terrorism
Martin Scheinin
This chapter first addresses the question of whether terrorism constitutes a violation of human rights, or whether the notion of human rights violations can only be applied to action by states, and then considers challenges to the applicability of human rights law in the fight against terrorism, particularly since 9/11. It focuses on the notion of terrorism, and in particular the risks posed to human rights protection by vague or over-inclusive definitions of terrorism. The main section of the chapter deals with some of the major challenges posed by counter-terrorism measures to substantive human rights protections. It is argued that the unprecedented post-9/11 wave of counter-terrorism laws and measures that infringed upon human rights was a unique situation, and that governments and intergovernmental organizations are realizing that full compliance with human rights in the fight against terrorism is not only morally and legally correct but is also the most effective way of combating terrorism in the long term.
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19. United Nations
Jane Connors and Sangeeta Shah
This chapter examines the work of the United Nations in the field of human rights. Particular attention is given to the Human Rights Council and its special procedures, as well as the treaty bodies that consider progress in the implementation of UN human rights treaties. In addition, the roles of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the General Assembly, Security Council, Secretary-General, and International Court of Justice are considered.