UN Security Council Resolutions as a Legal Framework for Multinational Military Operations

Abstract

The chapter examines UN Security Council resolutions as a legal framework for multinational military operations. The author argues that obligations that derive from Security Council mandates may put constraints on how force is used. However, she also underlines that the Security Council sometimes even takes decisions that deviate from IHL rules. Whereas in very few instances concerns were raised that the Security Council authorized military enforcement action that allowed going beyond what is permitted under IHL, most Council resolutions deviating from IHL have a narrowing rather than a broadening effect. Against the background that the national transformation acts that implement Security Council enforcement measures could be challenged before domestic courts, questions arise whether the safeguards included in relation to these concrete provisions are adequate to accommodate potential infringements of rights of individuals affected by the implementation act.