The Law and Humanitarian Intervention

Elizabeth Wilmshurst (who resigned from the FCO over Iraq) asks (and doesn't answer) the question, "Does international law stand in the way of military intervention to stop humanitarian crises occurring or to bring them swiftly to an end?" in "Rules of engagement" - a call to reduce legal ambiguity in the face of a happening or impending humanitarian crisis.

What should be the law? A doctrine of humanitarian intervention which leaves to individual states the judgment on the seriousness of human rights breaches is open to abuse. States might camouflage a political agenda behind arguments of humanitarian necessity. The concept of sovereignty is often presented as the obstacle to protection of human rights, but it may be the only protection that a state has against abuse of power by a stronger state. Collective intervention is more likely to be disinterested than single-country intervention.

Posted by Paul in International Law Law at October 14, 2004 07:12 PM | 0 Comments | Browse Related Books