United Nation’s peacekeeping operations as a tool for the application of the right to self-determination

• Pages: 50-57

Vol. 9 No. 1

March, 2023

Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

ISSN 2410-3918

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

50

United Nation’s peacekeeping operations as a tool for the application of the

right to self-determination

Arenca Trashani

University of Shkodra “Luigj Gurakuqi, Law Faculty

Abstract

The Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations are an important tool for people in their

ghttoapplyfortherighttoself-determination.ThePKO,eventhoughnotmentionedinthe

UN Charter is the main instrument in the hands of the Security Council and General Assembly

of the UN to maintain peace and security all over the world. The PKOs have had their evolution

during the decades and at the same time improved their performance. On the other side, the

right to self-determination is seen as a process that is assisted in most of the cases by the PKOs,

throughdicultiesof memberstatespolitical inationsandtheir impartialityinthe process

of decision taking.

Keywords: Peacekeeping operations, right to self-determination, United Nations, Security

Council, human rights.

1 Introduction

The United Nations (UN) was and continues to be the most prominent international

organizationcreated to protect security and peace all overthe world. For the rst

time in the history of international law, the general prohibition of the use of force is

foreseen in the UN Charter 1.

The use of force stated in Article 2(4) of the Charter comes with two exceptions: the

right to self-defense as stated in Article 51 and Security Council (SC) authorization.

Thelaer couldbe theauthorization ofstates touse forceunder ChapterVII, orof

regional organizations under Chapter VIII. The focus of this article will be on the use

of force in organs established by the SC, namely the Peacekeeping Operations (PKO).

The UN Charter does not mention the PKO in it, even though the former Secretary

General of the UN, Boutros Ghali, stated that PKOs can rightly be called an invention

of the UN 2. They arose in the absence of the contribution of armed forces and

facilities to the UN as detailed in article 43 3. It is never easy to intervene even in case

of humanitarian issues, but in front of human rights violations, humanitarian crises,

and violations of the right of people to self-determination this becomes a duty for

the international community to act. But at the same time we must take into view

that in the absence of any formal hierarchy in this system, the doctrine of equality of

states has been formed – states that are capable of forming rights and obligations in

international law through their practice 4.

 1Article2/4 oftheUN Charterstates:“ All Members shall refrain in their international relations from

the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any

other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations” Availableat:hps://www.un.org/

en/about-us/un-charter/full-text.

 2 Secretary General, “An Agenda for Peace”,UNDOCA/47/277,para46.

 3 Shaw M., “International Law”, 6th ed, Cambridge University Press, 2008, pg 1224.

 4BrownlieI&CrawfordJ,“Brownlie’s Principles of International Law”, 8th ed, OUP, 2012, page 15.