Aggression in the Context of Collective Security

Abstract

‘World history is largely a history of wars. All have been fought in a world without governance – where national “defence”, regional military alliances, balance of power and hegemonic imperialism have been the prevailing regimes. There is a manifest need for a system under universal auspices for maintaining global peace and security .’ COLLECTIVE SECURITY AS A MEANS TO PROMOTE AND SUSTAIN NTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY The prohibition of aggression under international (criminal) law must be considered against the background of the collective security system. This system is primarily concerned with the maintenance of international peace and security. The criminalisation of aggression is analysed in terms of the international peace and security regime which developed during the twentieth century in the wake of two devastating world wars. While the focus of this book is the question of individual criminal liability as a response to (and possible deterrent for) international aggression, this must be seen contextually. Indeed, it will be shown that the criminal justice response to international aggression is ultimately not only intertwined with, but also to a considerable degree dependent upon, the key institutions of the system of collective security. At present, the primary embodiment of the international collective security regime is the United Nations (UN). The UN Charter (1945) provides for three pillars of the system of collective security: (a) pacific behaviour by states: Article 2(3) of the Charter provides that member states ‘shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means’. Furthermore, Article 2(4) provides that states ‘shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state’; (b) collective responses and mechanisms aimed at the settling of disputes (notably in terms of Chapter VI of the Charter), and Chapter VII powers and mechanisms to deal with threats to or breaches of the peace and with aggression; (c) international co-operation to deal with socio-economic development, decolonisation, and the advancement of human rights, as means to prevent international conflict.