International Order and Justice
Legality and Legitimacy in International Order
Policy Brief
Legality and Legitimacy in International Order
(132 KB PDF)
By Vesselin Popovski & Nicholas Turner
The UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel Report on Threats, Challenges and Change states that, "The maintenance of world peace and security depends importantly on there being a common global understanding, and acceptance, of when the application of force is both legal and legitimate."
Accordingly, this project aims to explore the relationship between legality and legitimacy in such international issues as the use of force in humanitarian crises, non-proliferation of WMD, authority of international criminal law, enforcement of legal regimes associated with the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, prohibitions on whaling, ozone depletion, and issues of environmental depletion. The following questions are addressed:
- Of what consequence are the tensions between legality and legitimacy in relation to international law and the UN?
- To what extent does failure to legitimize particular foreign policy behavioural questions obstruct the international order and affect global governance?
- Would these tendencies for a wider disconnect between the legality and legitimacy persist?
This study will consequently recommend actions that can be undertaken by the UN and the Security Council to re-integrate international constitutionalism.
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Page last modified 2019.04.16.
