509 Assignment-1

UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
UNZA-ZOU –DEPARTMENT OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
STUDENT NAME: Mayani Musumali
ID NUMBER: 722000014
PROGRAMME: Master of Science in Peace, leadership and Conflict Resolution
COURSE: MSPL 509 –International law and Diplomacy
QUESTION: Examine the challenges that are encountered in the process of enforcing
international law. Suggest possible measures that can be adopted to overcome those challenges.
ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 1.
LECTUERER: Dr. Sanny Mulubale
SEMESTER: Two
YEAR: 2023
INTRODUCTION
International law is the product of war and destruction; it offers a utopian hope of order and
moral renewal. However, as much as international policy has helped develop relations between
states, and aided progress by creating rules for international conduct, this system is not perfect
and requires many reforms and improvements, particularly in how it is enforced. In 1919, the
Treaty of Versailles marked the creation of the Covenant of the League of Nations, known as
history’s first attempt at an organization for global peace and security. It created a program for
codifying international law, systematizing the rules of international conduct, and it established a
permanent judicial tribunal. However, the league was unable to keep the peace (Zartner, 2020).
The ongoing invasion of Ukraine has fuelled a debate about the role of international law and
global and regional institutions in maintaining international peace and security. Scholars agree,
extensively than before, that certain reforms on the Security Council is much needed if
international law is to become a more effective enforcement tool. Sayapin, who holds a doctorate
in criminal international law, specifies that the reform should focus, in particular, on the
council’s membership, and the voting procedure (Sayapin, 2022). Lewis Grossman, a lawyer,
and law professor, wrote about the international legal norms that regulate the use of force in
international relations. He delved into the “justifications” presented by Russia, which included a
commentary on Putin’s statements and writings
Additionally, this paper restates the need to reestablish full compliance with the norms referring
to the use of force in international law (Grossman, 2022). International humanitarian law exists
to restrict the suffering caused by warfare and to alleviate its effects. It is necessary because,
while war is forbidden according to international law, the U.N. Charter does allow the use of
force in some cases. Nations are allowed to defend themselves individually, or collectively,
against an attack. Six major treaties, including more than 600 articles, as well as some customary
law rules, outline the restrictions applying to the use of violence in wartime (Gasser, 1998).
The Existing International Legal Framework and Limitations International law refers to the rules
of law relating to the functioning of international institutions or organizations, their relations
with each other, and their relations with states and individuals (Oppenheim, 1992). The United
Nations counts 193 member states, and upholding international law is one of the organization’s
primary concerns. Article 25 of the United Nations Charter states, “The Members of the United
Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with
the present Charter.” (U.N. Charter, art.25) The Security Council comprises 15 members, five of
whom are permanent members, each possessing veto power.
However, it should be established regarding the importance of addressing the impunity gap:
“There can be no more exceptions, privileges. Everyone must be equal. All participants in
international relations. Regardless of economic strength, geographical area, and individual
ambitions.” (Zelenskyy, 2022). His statement reflects the general consensus regarding
international law, and yet none of this has happened yet.
And this accountability gap also requires to be addressed more thoroughly by international law,
and corporations need to be held liable for international crimes. Furthermore, this relates to the
impunity gap, meaning that some international actors are exempt from punishment because of
the way international law is designed with an inherent imbalance of power. There is a
contradiction between the values that international law strives to uphold including, “measures to
ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to
the law, fairness in the application of the law”, as stated by the U.N. Secretary-General (Arajärvi,
2021), and the actual biased application of international law.
CONCLUSION
There is a global consensus that while international law provides great guidelines for
international conduct, it almost always fails to be effectively enforced. Therefore, it is imperative
to see how the U.N. system may become weak when those who violate the U.N. Charter coincide
with those who have the power to exercise the veto, thus paralyzing the Security Council which
is designed to maintain international peace and security. For this purpose, on April 26th, 2022,
the General Assembly held an assembly to discuss the issue of accountability regarding the veto
power. The representative of Guyana said, “To build a culture of accountability and transparency
around the use of the veto, the proposal to organize a debate in the most representative organ of
the United Nations the General Assembly is both appropriate and necessary” (U.N. 76th Session,
2022).
The analysis of the findings suggests that there is a real need to reform international law and the
way it is enforced. Law, maybe it is a national or international system, is constantly evolving and
adapting to new societal changes. It is important to ensure that the structures and mechanisms put
in place to enforce it are being updated along with the law. As many scholars have suggested, the
challenge international law is facing is not so much agreeing to a shared international framework
but rather enforcing it when one party violates it. International law is a unique legal system
separate from domestic legal systems, with its own goals.
REFERENCES
Arajarvi, N. (2021, March 24). The core requirements of the International Rule of law in the
practice of States - Hague Journal on the rule of law. Springer Link. Retrieved December 6,
2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40803-021-00152-8
Gasser, H.-P. (1998, November 30). International humanitarian law and the Protection of War
Victims. ICRC. Retrieved November 18, 2022
Zartner, D.(2020,August-December) international law , and mechanism lecture University of San

Francisco.
Sayapin, S. (2022, June 13). Russia's invasion of Ukraine: A test for international law. Nature
News. Retrieved August 18, 2022,
Press, B. E. (2022, March). The Invasion of Ukraine: A Gross Violation of International Law.
Human Rights Brief, vol. 25, no. 2, Mar. 2022, pp. 74–81. "The invasion of Ukraine: A 49 gross
violation of international law" by Claudio Grossman. Retrieved August 18, 2022, from
https://works.bepress.com/claudio_grossman/177/

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UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

UNZA-ZOU –DEPARTMENT OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

STUDENT NAME: Mayani Musumali

PROGRAMME: Master of Science in Peace, leadership and Conflict Resolution

COURSE: MSPL 509 –International law and Diplomacy

LECTUERER: Dr. Sanny Mulubale

Zartner, D.(2020,August-December) international law , and mechanism lecture University of San

News. Retrieved August 18, 2022,

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