(The latest version of this page is at Pattern Descriptions. An archived copy of this page is held at https://www.patternsofpower.org/edition02/5361.htm)
International law is gradually developing on a global basis, under the aegis of the UN, but progress is patchy. The UN Security Council issues Resolutions which have the status of laws, but it makes up rules as it goes along rather than enforcing pre-agreed legislation. Political agreement is needed for each situation, so these aspects of international law don’t have the "enduring character" which is one of the key characteristics of law as defined earlier (5.1.2). Also there is no separation of powers (5.2.8), so the Security Council lacks the appropriate structure for legal governance. It can be more accurately categorised as a global political authority – and it is not fully effective in that role either (6.6.6.1).
Despite these valid criticisms of the UN Security Council, it does represent an improvement over previous international conventions whereby each State was the sole arbiter of whether it was entitled to go to war. Under the UN Charter,[1] Security Council approval is unambiguously required for war to be regarded as having “legitimate authority” in the terminology of ‘just war’ theory (4.3.5.5).
© PatternsofPower.org, 2014
[1] The UN Charter was available in May 2014 at http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CTC/uncharter.pdf.