The legality of the use of force under the United Nations Charter

Abstract

The United Nations Charter marked a turning point as regards the use of force in the international community. Before this Charter came into existence the general position on the use of force was very different from the one we accept today. It was accepted that international law had no alternative but to accept war, without asking the justice of its origin. War was not illegal, but was considered to be a normal state in international relations. It was justified by the circumstance that the international community was of a primitive type. The right to conduct war was seen as a sign of sovereignty and as a customary action to which states could resort to achieve foreign policy goals that could not be achieved by other means. Since war was a natural part of the community, law applied to it. Although International Law applied, it was only concerned with the rules about the methods used during a war (jus in hello) and not when it was permissible to begin a war (jus ad bell um). The first type of rules can be traced back to many societies' notions of what was fair and honorable in combat. The second type of categorization is derived from philosophers such as St.Augustine who developed the doctrine of Just and Unjust Wars. It must be said that there is no exact definition of what constitutes 'use of force'. Neither the UN Charter nor any international body has clearly defined such term. However there are certain parameters on which there is widespread agreement, regarding the elements of use of force. On one hand it is considered that the use of force requiresthe use of a weapon that brings destruction of life or property. On the other hand it is generally considered that the threats of force and economic coercion are not to be considered as falling under the term 'use of force' for the purposes of the Charter, although one must say that some developing states are in favour of classifying them as such. One must admit that although the great majority of states forming part of the international community agree on the general elements that are necessary to classify an action as use of force under the Charter, the fact that there is still no exact definition creates certain problems when given the task to classify certain actions.