Legal basis for unilateral humanitarian intervention

Abstract

In this paper, the author examines whether there is a legal basis for unilateral humanitarian intervention in contemporary international law. The legality of unilateral humanitarian intervention will be examined from two perspectives, from the point of Treaty International Law and Customary International Law, since these are two main sources of international law. The author first deals with some general issues, such as the historical development of the concept, the concept and elements of the concept of humanitarian intervention. Then the UN Charter and certain international documents will be analyzed, in order to determine whether there is a legal basis for unilateral intervention in Treaty Law. The starting point of the analysis will be the norm prohibiting the use of force contained in the Article 2(4) of the Charter, and will be presented arguments in favor and against the extensive interpretation of this norm by some theorists. After that, the provisions of certain international documents, for which it is believed in the theory that can serve as a legal basis for humanitarian intervention, will be analyzed. Finally, the state practice will be examined in order to determine the veracity of the claim that the right to humanitarian intervention belongs to a body of rules of customary law. Since the elements of customary rule are practice and opinio juris, state practice will be explored from the standpoint of both of these elements.