A machiavellian moment? the un security council and the rule of law

International Organizations Law Review

Volumn 3, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 189-224

  Cannizzaro, Enzo ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MACERATA   (Italy)

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EID: 34548577829     PISSN: 15723739     EISSN: 15718069     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/157237406780331661     Document Type: Article

References (79)

1. Judgments of 21 September 2005, Case T-315/01, Yassin Abdullah Kadi v. Council and Commission, and Case T-306/01, Ahmed Ali Yusuf and Al Barakaat International Founda tion v. Council and Commission, n.y.r. The text of the frst is reproduced in International Legal Materials, 2006, p. 77, with note by A. Reinisch. Among the frst comments
2. C. Tomuschat, in 43 Common Market Law Rev. (2006), p. 537.
3. See also, more recently, the judgment of 12 July 2006, case T-253/02, Chafq Ayadi v Council of the European Union, n.y.r. For a more in-depth analysis of this latter decision, see below, note 23.
4. On the conventional international level, it is guaranteed by Art. 13 of the ECHR and by Art. 14 of the ICCPR. See also Art. 25 AmCHR, and Art. 7 of the AfCHPR. Among the countless contributions, see T.M. Franck, The Power of "Appreciation": Who is the Ultimate Guardian of UN Legality?, 86 American Journal of International Law (1992), p. 519;
5. M. Bedjaoui, Nouvel ordre mondial et contrôle de la légalité des actes du Conseil de sécurité, Bruylant, Bruxelles, 1994;
6. J. Alvarez, Judging the Security Council, 90 American Journal of International Law (1996), p. 1;
7. K. Zemanek, Is the Security Council the Sole Judge of its own Legality ? in E. Yakpo and T. Boumedra (eds), Liber Amicorum Judge Mohammed Bedjaoui, The Hague/London/Boston 1999, p. 629;
8. D. Akande, The International Court of Justice and the Security Council: Is there Room for Judicial Control of Decisions of the Political Organs of the United Nations ?, 46 International and Comparative Law Quarterly (1997), p. 309;
9. B. Martenczuk, The Security Council, The International Court and Judicial Review: What Lessons from Lockerbie ?, 10 European Journal of International Law (1999), p. 517;
10. B. Fassbender, Quis Judicabit? The Security Council: Its Powers and Its Legal Control, 11 European Journal of International Law (2000), p. 219.
11. See Documents of the United Nations Conference on International Organizations, San Francisco, 1945, Vol. XII, p. 48 ff. and Vol. XIV, p. 378 ff.
12. As the ICJ said in the Advisory Opinion on Certain Expenses of the United Nations (ICJ Reports 1962, p. 21):
13. "In the legal systems of States, there is often some procedure for determining the validity of even a legislative or governmental act, but no analogous procedure is to be found in the structure of the United Nations". This argument is developed by W. M. Reisman, The Constitutional Crisis in the United Nations, 87 American Journal of International Law (1993), p. 83.
14. See A. Stein, Der Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen und die Rule of Law: Auslegung und Rechtsfortbildung des Begriffs der Friedensbedrohung bei humanitären Interventionen auf der Grundlage des Kapitels VII der Charta der Vereinten Nationen, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden, 1999.
15. See R. Kennedy, Libya v. United State: The International Court of justice and the Power of Judicial Review, 33 Virginia Journal of International Law (1993), p. 899.
16. See L. Condorelli, La Corte internazionale di giustizia e gli organi politici delle Nazioni Unite, 78 Rivista di diritto internazionale (1994), p. 897.
17. See D. Akande, The International Court of Justice and the Security Council, supra, note 4, at 327 ff.
18. See E. McWhinney, The International Court as Emerging Constitutional Court and the Coordinate UN Institutions (Especially the Security Council): Implications of the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie, 30 Canadian Journal of International Law (1992), p. 261. For a more general perspective
19. see B. Simma, From Bilateralism to Community Interest in International Law, 250 Recueil des cours de l'Académie de droit international (1994), p. 217;
20. P.M. Dupuy, The Constitutional Dimension of the Charter of the UN Revisited, 1 Max Planck Yearbook of UN Law (1997), p. 1;
21. B. Fassbender, The United Nations Charter as Constitution of the International Community, 36 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (1998), p. 531.
22. Cf. the remarks of G. Arangio Ruiz, The « Federal Analogy » and the UN Charter Interpretation, 8 European Journal of International Law (1997), p. 1; ID.
23. On the Security Council's «Law Making », 83 Rivista di diritto internationale (2000), p. 609, at 685.
24. Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803)
25. T. M. Franck, The Power of "Appreciation": Who is the Ultimate Guardian of UN Legality ?, supra, note 4.
26. D. Akande, The International Court of Justice and the Security Council, supra, note 4, at 342;
27. N. Angelet, International Law Limits to the Security Council, in V. Gowlland-Deb-bas (ed.), United Nations Sanctions and International Law, KLI, The Hague-London-New York, 2001, p. 71.
28. An aircraft leased by a Yugoslav air company to a Turkish company was impounded by Ireland as part of the measures enacted by that State in order to implement the sanctions toward the RFY by SC resolution 820 (1993).
29. The Irish measure, adopted pursuant to a set of measures taken by the EU on the basis of both its foreign policy and commercial policy competence, was challenged before domestic, EU and international courts. For a complete account, see the recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights of 30 June 2005, Bosphorus v. Ireland, 45 International Legal Materials (2006), p. 136.
30. A non-exhaustive list includes Res. 1267 (1999);
31. Res. 1333 (2000);
32. Res. 1373 (2001);
33. Res. 1390 (2002);
34. Res. 1455 (2003);
35. Res. 1526 (2004);
36. Res. 1566 (2004);
37. Res. 1617 (2005).
38. Res. 1483 (2003).
39. Notable examples are: Res. 1572 (2004)
40. Côte d'Ivoire; Res. 1533 (2004) and 1596 (2005)
41. Congo; Res. 1636 (2005), concerning the situation in Lebanon.
42. See A. Cassese, International Criminal Law, OUP, Oxford, 2003, 31 ff.
43. See the SC Res. 1267 (1999) that established the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Com mittee, and the SC Res. 1373 (2001) that established the Counter-Terrorism Committee.
44. See the procedural rules of the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee: Guidelines of the Committee for the conduct of its work (Adopted on 7 November 2002, as amended on 10 April 2003 and revised on 21 December 2005), available on Guidelines of the Com mittee for the conduct of its work www.un.org/Docs/sc/ committees/1267/1267-guidelines. pdf.
45. The existence of positive obligations imposed to the Member States should, in the view of the CFI, assuage to a certain degree the curtailing of the fundamental rights recognised to individuals under Community law. Paras. 269 of the Yusuf decision (T-306/01).
46. Para. 277 of the Yusuf decision (T-306/01).
47. See paras. 221 ff. of the Yusuf decision (T-306/01).
48. This is certainly debatable. Art. 307
49. See, again, Case C-228/84, Judgment of 15 May 1986, Johnston/Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary [1986], ECR I-1651.
50. This right is now codifed as art. 47 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union. This issue is amply explored by E. De Wet and A. Nollkaemper, Review of Security Council Decisions by National Courts, in 45 German Yearbook of International Law (2003), p. 166.
51. See N. Angelet, Protest Against Security Council Decisions, in K. C. Wellens (ed.), International Law: Theory and Practice: Essays in Honour of Eric Suy, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague-Boston-London, 1998, p. 277, at 281;
52. B. Conforti, The Law and Practice of nd the United Nations, 2 ed., KLI, The Hague-London-Boston, 2000, at 293 ff.;
53. E. De Wet, Human Rights Limitations to Economic Enforcement Measures Under Article 41 of the United Nations Charter and the Iraqi Sanctions Regime, 14 Leiden Journal of International Law (2001), p. 277, at 280.
54. On proportionality as a general limit to the sanctioning power of the UN, see, among others, M.J. Herdegen, The "Constitutionalization" of the U.N. Security System, 27 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (1994), p. 135;
55. J.A. Frowein and N. Krisch, Article 41, in B. Simma (ed.), The Charter of the United Nations. A Commentary, OUP, Oxford, 2002, p. 735;
56. N. Angelet, International Law Limits to the Security Council, supra, note 14 at 71;
57. M.E. O'Connell, Debating the Law of Sanctions, 13 European Journal of International Law (2002), p. 63.
58. I. Österdahl, Threat to Peace, Uppsala, 1998;
59. D. Akande, The International Court of Justice and the Securiy Council, supra, note 4, at 338,
60. E. Sciso, Può la Corte internazionale di giustizia rilevare l'invalidità di una decisione del Consiglio di sicurezza ?, 75 Rivista di diritto internazionale (1992), p. 396.
61. E. De Wet, The Chapter VII Powers of the United Nations Security Council, Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland Oregon, 2004, p. 191 ff.
62. T.D. Gill, Legal and Some Political Limitations on the Power of the UN Security Council to Exercise its Enforcement Powers under Chapter VII of the Charter, 26 Netherlands Yearbook of International Law (1995), p. 33, at 79
63. For a comprehensive account, see General comment No. 29, States of Emergency (Article 4), CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.11, adopted by the Human Rights Committee on 31 August 2001.
64. See General Comment no. 29, supra, note 36, at para. 11.
65. See A. Orakhelashvili, The Impact of Peremptory Norms on the Interpretation and Application of United Nations Security Council Resolutions, 16 European Journal of International Law (2005), p. 59.
66. Cours general de droit international public, 297 Recueil des cours de l'Académie de droit international (2002), at 281)
67. A more precise reference to human rights treaties as a source of jus cogens is contained in Regulation n. 24 of 12 December 1999 (UNMIK/REG/1999/24) On the Law Applicable in Kosovo, whose Art. 1.3.
68. Para. 116 reads: "Such a right (the right of appeal) is a fundamental element of individual civil and political rights and has, inter alia, been incorporated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights".
69. D. Akande, The International Court of Justice and the Security Council, supra, note 4
70. recalling the statement of the Secretary General of the UN contained in its "Report Pursuant to Paragraph 2 of Security Council Resolution 808 (1993), according to which the Art. 14 of the ICCPR expresses the internationally recognized standards regarding the rights of the accused, notes that "it would indeed be surprising if the Council has the power to set up a criminal tribunal but has no obligation to set up one that guarantees the rights of the persons brought before it".
71. Through this interpretive approach, the House of Lords avoids commenting on the legality of Resolution 1373 in light of international law. The result contrasts with that reached in R (on the application of Al-Jedda) v. Secretary of State for Defence, (2005) EWHC 1809 (Admin) (12 August 2005), where the English High Court interpreted the powers provided to the UK occupying forces in Iraq under Resolution 1456 as wide and unrestrained by other international obligations despite the resolution's silence on the impact on other international obligations of States.
72. See recently J. C. Hathaway, The Rights of Refugees under International Law, CUP, Cambridge, 2005, p. 5 ff.
73. See B. Simma and P. Alston, The Sources of Human Rights Law: Custom, Jus Cogens, and General Principles, 12 Australian Year Book of International Law (1992), p. 82.
74. See, among the numerous examples, Art. 11 of the Italian Constitution, Art. 24 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The obvious referente is to A. Bickel, The Least Dangerous Branch, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merril Company, 1962. (reprinted by the Yale University Press, 1986).
75. 93 International Law Reports, 362.
76. Decision of 27 December 1973, n. 183
77. Frontini, 47 Rivista di diritto internazionale (1974), p. 130.
78. See also E. De Wet, The Charter VII Powers of the United Nations Security Council, supra, note 37 at 354.
79. See J. Alvarez, Review Essay : Between Law and Power, 99 American Journal of International Law (2005) p. 926, at 932