Saving Succeeding Generations from the Scourge of War

Niels Blokker is Professor of International Institutional Law at Leiden University (Schermers Chair) and was previously Deputy Legal Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Together with the late Henry Schermers, he has published International Institutional Law (Brill/Nijhoff, 6th ed. 2018). Together with Nico Schrijver, he has edited The Security Council and the Use of Force (Brill/Nijhoff, 2005), Immunities of International Organizations (Brill/Nijhoff, 2015) and Elected Members of the Security Council (Brill/Nijhoff, 2020). He is co-founder and co-editor in chief of the journal International Organizations Law Review (Brill/Nijhoff).

• List of TablesIntroduction1 The United Nations at 751 A Comparison with the League of Nations2 Developments in Membership3 Evolutions in ‘Organizationship’3.1 Introduction: No Security Council without the United Nations3.2 Legal Personality of the United Nations3.3 Constitutional Development through ‘Practice of the Organization’3.3.1 Guidance from the International Court of Justice3.3.2 A Legal Basis for ‘Interpretation through Practice’?3.3.3 Whose Practice?4 Concluding Observations2 The Security Council and the Right of Veto1 Introduction2 A Problematic Beginning: without the Veto No United Nations3 A Problematic Practice4 Problematic Reform Discussions: l’histoire se répète4.1 Moderating the Use of the Veto without Charter Amendment4.2 Changing the Veto, Amending the Charter4.3 The Gordian Knot of Vetoes on Veto Reform5 The Veto: Indispensable or Obsolete? Concluding Observations3 The Security Council, the Rule of Power and the Rule of Law1 Introduction2 The Notion Rule of Law3 Five Ways of Containing the Power of the Permanent Members3.1 Right of Veto (‘I Forbid’), No Right of jubeo (‘I Order’)3.2 Bound by Charter Obligations3.3 Wartime Superpower Cooperation, Modified not Merely Codified by the Charter3.4 The Security Council Does Not Have Unlimited Powers3.5 The Security Council is Embedded in the United Nations Organization3.5.1 The General Assembly3.5.2 The Secretariat3.5.3 The International Court of Justice4 The 1945 Negotiations: Peace at Any Price? the ‘Rule of Power’ vs. the ‘Rule of Law’5 Security Council Practice and the Rule of Law5.1 Introduction5.2 General: Thematic Debates, Presidential Statements5.2.1 The 2003 and 2004 Thematic Debates: the Rule of Law at the National Level5.2.2 The 2006 and 2010 Thematic Debates: the Rule of Law at the International Level5.2.3 Subsequent Thematic Debates on the Rule of Law5.2.4 The Security Council as a Model for the Rule of Law?5.3 Two Specific Topics: International Criminal Justice and Individual Sanctions5.3.1 Introduction5.3.2 The Rise and Fall of International Criminal Justice in the Security Council5.3.2.1 The Establishment of Ad Hoc Criminal Tribunals5.3.2.2 Referrals to the International Criminal Court5.3.3 Reviewing Individual Sanctions6 Concluding Observations4 The Need for a Second Enlargement of the Security Council1 Introduction2 The Inevitability of the First Enlargement3 The Urgency of Another Enlargement4 Effective and Representative?5 A Comparison6 The Proposals by the 2004 High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change7 Concluding Observations5 United Nations? Security Council? Concluding Institutional Legal Reflections1 The Creation of the United Nations Revisited2 The Creation of the Security Council Revisited3 The United Nations in 75 Years of Practice4 The Veto in Practice5 The Security Council and the Rule of Law6 On the Need for a Second Enlargement of the Security Council7 Institutions MatterAppendix Overview of the Use of the Veto (1945 – 2020)Index