About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

52 Va. J. Int'l L. 903 (2011-2012)
Jus Ad Bellum before the International Court of Justice

handle is hein.journals/vajint52 and id is 915 raw text is: Jus ad Bellum Before the International Court of Justice JOHN NORTON MOORE The norms controlling initiation of military force, or jus ad bellum as traditionally designated in international law, are among the most important normative princaples in the international system. As propery understood, they stand firmy against aggression and facilitate the minimum order, which serves as the stable basis for exchange, agreement, and human creativity. As such, one would expect that the International Court of Justice, itself created as a barrier against war, would serve as a powerful force against aggression in expounding these norms. Sadly, however, the decisions of the International Court in this area have too frequently adopted an approach that encourages, rather than discourages, aggression. This is particularly so in the most important contemporary threat spectrum, that of secret warfare, covert attack and terrorism. This Article will briefy explore the requirements of a normative system effective in discouraging aggression, review the spectrum of forms of aggression and the contemporary importance of secret warfare, assess the normative structure of jus ad bellum under the United Nations Charter, and then anaye the prinpal use of force decisions of the International Court of Justice. The Article concludes not only that the Court has distorted the Charter framework in ways that encourage aggression, but also that in its legal analysis getting there, the Court has departed from the high quality of legal craftsmanshp one expects of the Court. Finally, the Article urges that, given the central importance of the normative princples of jus ad bellum, foreign offices need to engage more openly and vocally in supporting the core Charter princjples against aggression. * Walter L. Brown Professor of Law and Director of the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia. Formerly, he served as Counselor on International Law to the United States Department of State, United States Ambassador to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, Chairman of the National Security Council Interagency Task Force on the Law of the Sea, and Chairman of the Board of the United States Institute of Peace. Of relevance to the Nicaragua case, he served as Deputy Agent for the United States during the jurisdictional phase of the case and argued several of the admissibility grounds before the Court. The author would like to thank Zachary Gutterman and Joel Sanderson, who worked as student assistants on this project.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most