Abstract:
Abstract: Although the end of the Cold War has seen the functional
expansion of the United Nations Security Council, concerns still remain over its
legitimacy, driven in part by its failure to address serious and persistent human rights
abuses. While this has resurrected arguments in favour of the doctrine of humanitarian
intervention outside the U.N. Charter framework, little attention has been paid to how the
U.N. General Assembly may authorise such enforcement action under a U.N. mandate
through the invocation of the Uniting for Peace mechanism. Some dismiss Uniting for
Peace as little more than a relic of the Cold War, but, if properly conceived, the General
Assembly may authorise a humanitarian intervention where the Security Council is
deadlocked and has failed to accomplish its primary responsibility of maintaining
international peace and security. This article will consider the constitutional foundations
of the Uniting for Peace resolution and the scope for the General Assembly to assume
analogous functions to that of the Security Council in authorising enforcement action.
Description:
Washington International Law Journal, Volume 25, Number 2, April 2016