Suchergebnisse

Why do states feel obliged to obey the rules of international law? The political elites who act in the name of states, their counterparts in international organisations and non-governmental organisations, and their ever more internationally-attuned populations all speak and act as though international law incurs real obligations. Yet existing accounts of international legal obligation suffer from the problem of 'interiority', in that they first ground obligation in some internal feature of the international legal system—such as sanction, consent, or discourse—but when these turn out to be insufficient they fall back on arguments about the legitimacy of the system as a whole, for which they cannot account. The roots of this problem lie in the underlying conceptions of politics that inform these accounts, and to overcome this problem I advance an alternative, 'interstitial' understanding politics which integrates 'idiographic', 'purposive', 'moral', and 'instrumental' forms of reason and action. This in turn allows the development of an 'holistic' conception of institutional rationality and an 'anterior' theory of international legal obligation. These innovations enable us to explain the relationship between historically grounded modes of politics and the legitimacy of particular institutional forms, including the modern system of international law. I illustrate this argument with an explanation of the logic of obligation that undergirded the international legal system of Absolutist Europe, where the legitimacy of the divine ordained political order was the primary source of obligation and fealty to God, not consent, was the salient signifier of such duty.

What relationship does international law have to transitional justice and what role has the United Nations (UN) played in shaping that relationship? The international legal history of this concept reveals that the UN has shifted from relying on international law to support nationally determined transitional justice efforts to expecting States to conform to a growing body of international legal standards it has set in this field. This turn to international legal hegemony and UN managerialism can marginalise some of the most pressing concerns of people attempting to overcome past large-scale abuses. In recent years, the UN has expanded its work in transitioning societies and scholars have recommended ways for better addressing the needs of their members. However, these measures seem partial at best, as they disrupt neither international law's hegemony nor the UN's managerial role in this field, which operate as major constraints on societies weighing their transitional justice options.

Examines whether NATO's military intervention in Kosovo was justified, considering the legitimacy of the action from legal & just war perspectives. At issue is whether humanitarianism trumps international law compliance. The case is scrutinized in terms of the intervention's legality under the UN Charter, human rights law, & humanitarian law, finding NATO in violation thereof. Next, just war theory is applied to the case, addressing just cause & just strategy. It is argued that the humanitarian imperative outweighed international law to justify NATO's military intervention; however, the air campaign is deemed an illegitimate means to that end. In this light, the implications of this precedent are scrutinized via legal & just war analyses of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Iraqi intervention is also seen to be in violation of the UN Charter & international law &, together with NATO's action, threatens to undermine the international rule of law. It is concluded that new international norms governing humanitarian intervention are required; a suggested framework for this centers on evidence & notice, exhaustion of alternatives, a UN role, & regional action. A call is then made for the Security Council to adapt its procedures to retain credibility. J. Zendejas

This book has a simple objective: to present the fundamentals of international human rights treaty law in a way that can be helpful to the national leader, official, or legal adviser whose duty it is to help put a human rights treaty regime into the law and practice in his or her country. It is a book of international law, as provided for in the principal international and regional human rights treaties and draws upon the jurisprudence and practice of their monitoring organs.