Acta Iuris Stetinensis

Vorher: Zeszyty Naukowe. Roczniki Prawnicze


ISSN: 2083-4373     eISSN: 2545-3181    OAI    DOI: 10.18276/ais.2022.41-04
CC BY-SA   Open Access   DOAJ  CEEOL  ERIH PLUS  DOAJ

Liste der Ausgaben / 5/2022 (41)
Can the Notion of the Rule of Law Be Applied to the UN System?

Autoren: Hans Köchler ORCID
University of Innsbruck
Schlüsselbegriffe: United Nations rule of law use of force Security Council power politics
Veröffentlichungsdatum der gesamten Ausgabe:2022
Seitenanzahl:12 (49-60)
Cited-by (Crossref) ?:
Anzahl der Downloads ?: 538

Abstract

The paper demonstrates that the Charter of the United Nations contains some incompatible norms, a fact that directly impacts the organization’s system of collective security. The voting procedure of the Security Council, privileging its permanent members, stands in open contradiction to the Charter’s principle of “sovereign equality” of all member states. Article 27(3) of the Charter makes uniform enforcement of the prohibition of the international use of force impossible because it effectively exempts the organization’s five permanent members. Those states can block any decision of the Council even in cases when they are themselves party to a dispute. The problem is further aggravated by a lack of checks and balances in the UN system in general. The International Court of Justice has no competence to rule on the Security Council’s use of its vast coercive powers under Chapter VII of the Charter. The supreme executive organ of the UN can act as “index in causa sui.” Thus, the lack of a separation of powers – in tandem with the statutory privilege of some of the most powerful states – makes the “rule of law” an elusive idea in the intergovernmental system of the United Nations.
herunterladen

Artikeldatei

Bibliographie

1.Dulles, J.F. War or peace. New York, 1950.
2.Fassbender, B. What’s in a name? The international rule of law and the United Nations Charter. “Chinese Journal of International Law” 2018, No. 17.
3.Hull, C. The memories of Cordell Hull. Vol. 2. New York, 1948.
4.Köchler H., The United Nations sanctions policy and international law. Penang (Malaysia): Just World Trust (JUST), 1995.
5.Kelsen, H. The preamble of the charter: A critical analysis, “The Journal of Politics” 1946, No. 8.
6.Kelsen, H. Reine Rechtslehre: Einleitung in die rechtswissenschaftliche Problematik. Leipzig and Vienna, 1934.
7.Köchler, H. Carl Schmitt’s conception of sovereignty, the UN Security Council, and the instrumentalization of the ‘State of Exception’. In: Ingimundarson V. and Jóhannesson S. (eds.), Liberal disorder, states of exception, and populist politics, Abingdon (UK)/New York, 2021.
8.Köchler, H. Normative inconsistencies in the state system with special emphasis on international law. “The Global Community – Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence” 2017, No. 2016.
9.Köchler, H. The Security Council as administrator of justice?. “Studies in International Relations” 2011, No. 32.
10.Köchler, H. The voting procedure in the United Nations Security Council: Examining a Normative contradiction and its consequences on international relations. “Studies in International Relations” 1991, No. 17.
11.“What is the rule of law.” United Nations and the Rule of Law. Access date: 15.11.2021, https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/what-is-the-rule-of-law/.