Binding or Not? Determining the Legal Status in International Law of UN Security Council Resolutions
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Abstract
The resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, when binding on states, constitute a source of international obligations. However, when these resolutions are ambiguous, doubt arises as to whether they are indeed binding on states. In the case of Namibia, the International Court of Justice established a test to interpret a Security Council resolution and determine its binding nature. This test is controversial because not every organization has the authority to interpret such resolutions, and moreover, the test itself lacks clarity. Therefore, this article analyzes the nature of Security Council resolutions and seeks to explain when a resolution is binding on the states of the international community. The analysis focuses on elucidating the characteristics and language used in the resolutions, as well as the context and circumstances under which they are adopted, to provide a more precise guide on their binding nature.
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References
Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Reports 2010. The International Court of Justice, July 22, 2010.
Akande, Dapo, and Marko Milanovic. “The Constructive Ambiguity of the Security Council’s ISIS Resolution.” EJIL: Talk! (blog), 2015. https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-constructive-ambiguity-of-the-security-councils-isis-resolution/. Accessed February 9, 2024.
Alipour, Mohammad. “The Competence of the Security Council over Situations or Disputes Arising from Human Rights Violations by a State under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter.” Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies 64, no. 2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1556/2052.2023.00451.
Arendt, Hannah. The Plurality of the World. Taurus, 2019.
Arms Control Association. “UN Security Council Resolutions on North Korea.” Fact Sheets & Briefs, January 2022. https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/un-security-council-resolutions-north-korea. Accessed August 18, 2024.
Berger, Andrea. “A Familiar Story: The New UN Report on North Korean Sanctions Implementation.” 38 North, US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, March 16, 2017. https://www.38north.org/2017/03/aberger031617/. Accessed August 28, 2024.
Bjorge, Eirik. “Resolution 2728 (2024) Is a Binding Council Resolution.” EJIL: Talk!, last modified April 26, 2024. https://www.ejiltalk.org/resolution-2728-2024-is-a-binding-council-resolution/.
Brand, Ronald A. “Security Council Resolutions: When Do They Give Rise to Enforceable Legal Rights—The United Nations Charter, the Byrd Amendment and a Self-Executing Treaty Analysis.” Cornell International Law Journal 9 (1976).
Certain Expenses of the United Nations: Advisory Opinion. Duke Law Journal, no. 2 (1963): 304–306. https://doi.org/10.2307/1370903.
Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, Paragraph 2, of the Charter); Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Reports 1962. The International Court of Justice, July 20, 1962.
Corfu Channel (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland v Albania). [1948] ICJ Rep 15.
Coto, Dánica. “Haiti’s Leader Requests Foreign Armed Forces to Quell Chaos.” AP News, October 7, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-united-nations-port-au-prince-haiti-antony-blinken-057bf6462ca2b00fe667e93b5289d319. Accessed March 12, 2024.
East Timor (Portugal v. Australia), Judgment. No. ICJ Reports 1995. The International Court of Justice, June 30, 1995.
Goodwin-Gill, Guy S., and Stefan Talmon, eds. The Reality of International Law: Essays in Honour of Ian Brownlie. Oxford University Press, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198268376.001.0001.
Gruenberg, Justin S. “An Analysis of United Nations Security Council Resolutions: Are All Countries Treated Equally?” Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 41 (2009).
Higgins, Rosalyn. “The Advisory Opinion on Namibia: Which UN Resolutions Are Binding under Article 25 of the Charter?” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 21, no. 2 (1972): 270–86. https://doi.org/10.1093/iclqaj/21.2.270.
Institute for International Law and Justice. The Role of the Security Council in Strengthening a Rules-Based International System: Final Report and Recommendations from the Austrian Initiative. New York University School of Law, 2008.
International Status of South West Africa; Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Reports 1950. The International Court of Justice, July 11, 1950.
Johnstone, Ian. “Security Council Deliberations: The Power of the Better Argument.” European Journal of International Law 14, no. 3 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/14.3.437.
Joyner, Christopher C., ed. The United Nations and International Law. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Joyner, Dan. “Legal Bindingness of Security Council Resolutions Generally, and Resolution 2334 on the Israeli Settlements in Particular.” EJIL: Talk!, January 9, 2017. https://www.ejiltalk.org/legal-bindingness-of-security-council-resolutions-generally-and-resolution-2334-on-the-israeli-settlements-in-particular/. Accessed August 27, 2024.
Klabbers, Jan. “The Cheshire Cat That Is International Law.” European Journal of International Law 31, no. 1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chaa018.
Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) Notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970); Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Reports 1971. The International Court of Justice, June 21, 1971.
Lekkas, Sotirios-Ioannis. “The Interpretative Practice of the International Court of Justice.” Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 26 (2023): 316–357. https://doi.org/10.1163/18757413_02601015.
Linares, M. Ángeles Cano. La Actividad del Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas en Caso de Amenaza a la Paz. 1st ed. Tirant lo Blanch, 2011.
Makinda, Samuel. “Sovereignty and International Security: Challenges for the United Nations.” Global Governance 2 (1996): 149–68. https://doi.org/991005542836907891.
McDowall, David. “Clarity or Ambiguity? The Withdrawal Clause of UN Security Council Resolution 242.” International Affairs 90 (2014): 1367–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12174.
Milanovic, Marko. “Can UNSC Presidential Statements Be Legally Binding?” EJIL: Talk! (blog), 2009. https://www.ejiltalk.org/can-unsc-presidential-statements-be-legally-binding/. Accessed February 19, 2024.
Négri, Vincent. “Legal Study on the Protection of Cultural Heritage Through the Resolutions of the Security Council of the United Nations - Cultural Heritage Through the Prism of Resolution 2199 (2015) of the Security Council.” UNESCO #Unite4Heritage 13 (2015).
Öberg, Marko Divac. “The Legal Effects of Resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly in the Jurisprudence of the ICJ.” European Journal of International Law 16, no. 5 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chi151.
Oliver, Covey. “Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, Paragraph 2, of the Charter).” American Journal of International Law 56, no. 4 (1962). https://doi.org/10.2307/2195944.
Orakhelashvili, Alexander. “The Impact of Peremptory Norms on the Interpretation and Application of United Nations Security Council Resolutions.” European Journal of International Law 16, no. 1 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chi103.
Paulus, Andreas, and Anne Dienelt. “Lockerbie Cases (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v United Kingdom and United States of America).” In Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, 2010.
Polonskaya, Ksenia. “International Court of Justice: The Role of Consent in the Context of Judicial Propriety Deconstructed in Light of Chagos Archipelago.” The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 18 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1163/15718034-12341400.
Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention Arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United Kingdom), Judgment. No. ICJ Reports 1992. The International Court of Justice, April 14, 1992.
Question of Jaworzina, Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Rep 403, para. 37. Permanent Court of International Justice, December 6, 1923.
Ratner, Steven R. “International Law Rules on Treaty Interpretation.” In The Law and Practice of the Ireland-Northern Ireland Protocol, edited by Christopher McCrudden, 80–91. Cambridge University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009109840.008.
Ryngaert, Cedric, and others, eds. Judicial Decisions on the Law of International Organizations. Oxford University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198743620.001.0001.
Simmonds, K R. “The UN Assessments Advisory Opinion.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 13, no. 3 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1093/iclqaj/13.3.854.
Spain, Anna. “The U.N. Security Council’s Duty to Decide.” Harvard National Security Journal 4 (2013). https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/99.
Svicevic, Marko. “Resolution 2699’s (2023) Authorization of the Use of Force: A Cautious Return to the Security Council’s Chapter VII Authorization Model?” EJIL: Talk!, February 5, 2024. https://www.ejiltalk.org/resolution-2699s-2023-authorisation-of-the-use-of-force-a-cautious-return-to-the-security-councils-chapter-vii-authorisation-model/. Accessed January 12, 2024.
Szasz, Paul C. “The Security Council Starts Legislating.” American Journal of International Law 96, no. 4 (2002). https://doi.org/10.2307/3070686.
The Telegraph. “Haggling Delays N Korea Sanctions Vote.” Daily Telegraph, October 15, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20070311054556/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/15/wnkor15.xml. Accessed August 28, 2024.
Tryggestad, Torunn L. “Trick or Treat? The UN and Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.” Global Governance 15, no. 4 (2009): 539–557.
United Nations General Assembly. Resolution 2145 (XXI)
———. Resolution 31/53
———. Resolution 32/34
———. Resolution 33/39
———. Resolution 33/39
———. Resolution 34/40
———. Resolution 3485(XXX)
———. Resolution 35/27
———. Resolution 36/50
———. Resolution 37/30
———. Resolution 63/3
———. Resolution 686 (VII)
United Nations Security Council. Resolution 2334 (2016)
———. Resolution 2664 (2022)
———. Resolution 1160 (1998)
———. Resolution 1199 (1998)
———. Resolution 1203 (1998)
———. Resolution 1239 (1999)
———. Resolution 1244 (1999)
———. Resolution 1367 (2001)
———. Resolution 1373 (2001)
———. Resolution 1624 (2005)
———. Resolution 1757 (2007)
———. Resolution 1874 (2009)
———. Resolution 2087 (2013)
———. Resolution 2094 (2013)
———. Resolution 2199 (2015)
———. Resolution 22 (1947)
———. Resolution 2270 (2016)
———. Resolution 2321 (2016)
———. Resolution 2371 (2017)
———. Resolution 2375 (2017)
———. Resolution 2379 (2017)
———. Resolution 264 (1969)
———. Resolution 269 (1969)
———. Resolution 2699 (2023)
———. Resolution 2728 (2024)
———. Resolution 284 (1970)
———. Resolution 376 (1970)
———. Resolution 384(1975)
———. Resolution 389(1976).
———. Resolution 660 (1990)
———. Resolution 731 (1992)
———. Resolution 748 (1992)
———. Resolution 82 (1959)
———. Resolution 883 (1993)
———. Resolution 1160 (1998)
———. Resolution 1718 (2006)
Verdross, Alfred. “General International Law and the United Nations Charter.” International Affairs 30 (1954): 342.
Weiß, Wolfgang. “Security Council Powers and the Exigencies of Justice after War.” In Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, edited by Rüdiger von Bogdandy and Rüdiger Wolfrum. Koninklijke Brill, 2008.
Whittle, Devon. “The Limits of Legality and the United Nations Security Council: Applying the Extra-Legal Measures Model to Chapter VII Action.” European Journal of International Law 26, no. 3 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chv042.
Wolfrum, Rüdiger, and Christiane Philipp, eds. United Nations: Law, Policies, and Practice. New, rev. English ed. M Nijhoff; C.H. Beck, 1995.
Wood, M.C., and Eran Sthoeger. The UN Security Council and International Law. Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Wood, Michael C. “The Interpretation of Security Council Resolutions.” Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law Online 2 (1998): 73–95. https://doi.org/10.1163/187574198X00046.
Akande, Dapo, and Marko Milanovic. “The Constructive Ambiguity of the Security Council’s ISIS Resolution.” EJIL: Talk! (blog), 2015. https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-constructive-ambiguity-of-the-security-councils-isis-resolution/. Accessed February 9, 2024.
Alipour, Mohammad. “The Competence of the Security Council over Situations or Disputes Arising from Human Rights Violations by a State under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter.” Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies 64, no. 2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1556/2052.2023.00451.
Arendt, Hannah. The Plurality of the World. Taurus, 2019.
Arms Control Association. “UN Security Council Resolutions on North Korea.” Fact Sheets & Briefs, January 2022. https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/un-security-council-resolutions-north-korea. Accessed August 18, 2024.
Berger, Andrea. “A Familiar Story: The New UN Report on North Korean Sanctions Implementation.” 38 North, US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, March 16, 2017. https://www.38north.org/2017/03/aberger031617/. Accessed August 28, 2024.
Bjorge, Eirik. “Resolution 2728 (2024) Is a Binding Council Resolution.” EJIL: Talk!, last modified April 26, 2024. https://www.ejiltalk.org/resolution-2728-2024-is-a-binding-council-resolution/.
Brand, Ronald A. “Security Council Resolutions: When Do They Give Rise to Enforceable Legal Rights—The United Nations Charter, the Byrd Amendment and a Self-Executing Treaty Analysis.” Cornell International Law Journal 9 (1976).
Certain Expenses of the United Nations: Advisory Opinion. Duke Law Journal, no. 2 (1963): 304–306. https://doi.org/10.2307/1370903.
Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, Paragraph 2, of the Charter); Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Reports 1962. The International Court of Justice, July 20, 1962.
Corfu Channel (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland v Albania). [1948] ICJ Rep 15.
Coto, Dánica. “Haiti’s Leader Requests Foreign Armed Forces to Quell Chaos.” AP News, October 7, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-united-nations-port-au-prince-haiti-antony-blinken-057bf6462ca2b00fe667e93b5289d319. Accessed March 12, 2024.
East Timor (Portugal v. Australia), Judgment. No. ICJ Reports 1995. The International Court of Justice, June 30, 1995.
Goodwin-Gill, Guy S., and Stefan Talmon, eds. The Reality of International Law: Essays in Honour of Ian Brownlie. Oxford University Press, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198268376.001.0001.
Gruenberg, Justin S. “An Analysis of United Nations Security Council Resolutions: Are All Countries Treated Equally?” Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 41 (2009).
Higgins, Rosalyn. “The Advisory Opinion on Namibia: Which UN Resolutions Are Binding under Article 25 of the Charter?” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 21, no. 2 (1972): 270–86. https://doi.org/10.1093/iclqaj/21.2.270.
Institute for International Law and Justice. The Role of the Security Council in Strengthening a Rules-Based International System: Final Report and Recommendations from the Austrian Initiative. New York University School of Law, 2008.
International Status of South West Africa; Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Reports 1950. The International Court of Justice, July 11, 1950.
Johnstone, Ian. “Security Council Deliberations: The Power of the Better Argument.” European Journal of International Law 14, no. 3 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/14.3.437.
Joyner, Christopher C., ed. The United Nations and International Law. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Joyner, Dan. “Legal Bindingness of Security Council Resolutions Generally, and Resolution 2334 on the Israeli Settlements in Particular.” EJIL: Talk!, January 9, 2017. https://www.ejiltalk.org/legal-bindingness-of-security-council-resolutions-generally-and-resolution-2334-on-the-israeli-settlements-in-particular/. Accessed August 27, 2024.
Klabbers, Jan. “The Cheshire Cat That Is International Law.” European Journal of International Law 31, no. 1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chaa018.
Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) Notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970); Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Reports 1971. The International Court of Justice, June 21, 1971.
Lekkas, Sotirios-Ioannis. “The Interpretative Practice of the International Court of Justice.” Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 26 (2023): 316–357. https://doi.org/10.1163/18757413_02601015.
Linares, M. Ángeles Cano. La Actividad del Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas en Caso de Amenaza a la Paz. 1st ed. Tirant lo Blanch, 2011.
Makinda, Samuel. “Sovereignty and International Security: Challenges for the United Nations.” Global Governance 2 (1996): 149–68. https://doi.org/991005542836907891.
McDowall, David. “Clarity or Ambiguity? The Withdrawal Clause of UN Security Council Resolution 242.” International Affairs 90 (2014): 1367–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12174.
Milanovic, Marko. “Can UNSC Presidential Statements Be Legally Binding?” EJIL: Talk! (blog), 2009. https://www.ejiltalk.org/can-unsc-presidential-statements-be-legally-binding/. Accessed February 19, 2024.
Négri, Vincent. “Legal Study on the Protection of Cultural Heritage Through the Resolutions of the Security Council of the United Nations - Cultural Heritage Through the Prism of Resolution 2199 (2015) of the Security Council.” UNESCO #Unite4Heritage 13 (2015).
Öberg, Marko Divac. “The Legal Effects of Resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly in the Jurisprudence of the ICJ.” European Journal of International Law 16, no. 5 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chi151.
Oliver, Covey. “Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, Paragraph 2, of the Charter).” American Journal of International Law 56, no. 4 (1962). https://doi.org/10.2307/2195944.
Orakhelashvili, Alexander. “The Impact of Peremptory Norms on the Interpretation and Application of United Nations Security Council Resolutions.” European Journal of International Law 16, no. 1 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chi103.
Paulus, Andreas, and Anne Dienelt. “Lockerbie Cases (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v United Kingdom and United States of America).” In Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, 2010.
Polonskaya, Ksenia. “International Court of Justice: The Role of Consent in the Context of Judicial Propriety Deconstructed in Light of Chagos Archipelago.” The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 18 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1163/15718034-12341400.
Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention Arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United Kingdom), Judgment. No. ICJ Reports 1992. The International Court of Justice, April 14, 1992.
Question of Jaworzina, Advisory Opinion. No. ICJ Rep 403, para. 37. Permanent Court of International Justice, December 6, 1923.
Ratner, Steven R. “International Law Rules on Treaty Interpretation.” In The Law and Practice of the Ireland-Northern Ireland Protocol, edited by Christopher McCrudden, 80–91. Cambridge University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009109840.008.
Ryngaert, Cedric, and others, eds. Judicial Decisions on the Law of International Organizations. Oxford University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198743620.001.0001.
Simmonds, K R. “The UN Assessments Advisory Opinion.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 13, no. 3 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1093/iclqaj/13.3.854.
Spain, Anna. “The U.N. Security Council’s Duty to Decide.” Harvard National Security Journal 4 (2013). https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/99.
Svicevic, Marko. “Resolution 2699’s (2023) Authorization of the Use of Force: A Cautious Return to the Security Council’s Chapter VII Authorization Model?” EJIL: Talk!, February 5, 2024. https://www.ejiltalk.org/resolution-2699s-2023-authorisation-of-the-use-of-force-a-cautious-return-to-the-security-councils-chapter-vii-authorisation-model/. Accessed January 12, 2024.
Szasz, Paul C. “The Security Council Starts Legislating.” American Journal of International Law 96, no. 4 (2002). https://doi.org/10.2307/3070686.
The Telegraph. “Haggling Delays N Korea Sanctions Vote.” Daily Telegraph, October 15, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20070311054556/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/15/wnkor15.xml. Accessed August 28, 2024.
Tryggestad, Torunn L. “Trick or Treat? The UN and Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.” Global Governance 15, no. 4 (2009): 539–557.
United Nations General Assembly. Resolution 2145 (XXI)
———. Resolution 31/53
———. Resolution 32/34
———. Resolution 33/39
———. Resolution 33/39
———. Resolution 34/40
———. Resolution 3485(XXX)
———. Resolution 35/27
———. Resolution 36/50
———. Resolution 37/30
———. Resolution 63/3
———. Resolution 686 (VII)
United Nations Security Council. Resolution 2334 (2016)
———. Resolution 2664 (2022)
———. Resolution 1160 (1998)
———. Resolution 1199 (1998)
———. Resolution 1203 (1998)
———. Resolution 1239 (1999)
———. Resolution 1244 (1999)
———. Resolution 1367 (2001)
———. Resolution 1373 (2001)
———. Resolution 1624 (2005)
———. Resolution 1757 (2007)
———. Resolution 1874 (2009)
———. Resolution 2087 (2013)
———. Resolution 2094 (2013)
———. Resolution 2199 (2015)
———. Resolution 22 (1947)
———. Resolution 2270 (2016)
———. Resolution 2321 (2016)
———. Resolution 2371 (2017)
———. Resolution 2375 (2017)
———. Resolution 2379 (2017)
———. Resolution 264 (1969)
———. Resolution 269 (1969)
———. Resolution 2699 (2023)
———. Resolution 2728 (2024)
———. Resolution 284 (1970)
———. Resolution 376 (1970)
———. Resolution 384(1975)
———. Resolution 389(1976).
———. Resolution 660 (1990)
———. Resolution 731 (1992)
———. Resolution 748 (1992)
———. Resolution 82 (1959)
———. Resolution 883 (1993)
———. Resolution 1160 (1998)
———. Resolution 1718 (2006)
Verdross, Alfred. “General International Law and the United Nations Charter.” International Affairs 30 (1954): 342.
Weiß, Wolfgang. “Security Council Powers and the Exigencies of Justice after War.” In Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, edited by Rüdiger von Bogdandy and Rüdiger Wolfrum. Koninklijke Brill, 2008.
Whittle, Devon. “The Limits of Legality and the United Nations Security Council: Applying the Extra-Legal Measures Model to Chapter VII Action.” European Journal of International Law 26, no. 3 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chv042.
Wolfrum, Rüdiger, and Christiane Philipp, eds. United Nations: Law, Policies, and Practice. New, rev. English ed. M Nijhoff; C.H. Beck, 1995.
Wood, M.C., and Eran Sthoeger. The UN Security Council and International Law. Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Wood, Michael C. “The Interpretation of Security Council Resolutions.” Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law Online 2 (1998): 73–95. https://doi.org/10.1163/187574198X00046.