Legal Grounds for Using Force

Question: Discuss the internationally-recognized legal bases for the use of force, including both customary and treaty laws. What does the United States rely on as authority to use force in the Global War on Terror? Answer: Introduction Under both normal and truce laws, there exist certain very specific legal grounds for using force in the relations existing between states. The Charter of the United Nations provides two grounds when a State can use force under international law. These are: Chapter VII enforcement actions under the auspices of the UN Security Council; Self-defense pursuant to Article 51 of the UN Charter. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter imposes a general prohibition on the states from resorting to use force. The charter requires that all states should sort out their disputes in a peaceful manner. It also states that the nations should not use force or yet the risk of use of force against the opinionated sovereignty or the defensive veracity of any other state. This use of force requirement generally refers to an armed force. But there are certain exceptions to this requirement under Article 2(4). These legal uses of force are hereby being discussed. UN Enforcement Action: 1. The UN Security Council: Article 24 provides that the members of the Security Council have the responsibility to strive towards maintaining international peace and security. Article 25 provides that the members are supposed to accept and work in accordance to the decisions taken by the Security Council (Schweigman, 2001). 2. Chapter VII of the UN Charter: It deals with the actions that shall be taken when threat to peace occurs or there are incidents of violation of peace or acts of belligerence. The Security Council can label those acts as illegal and use force to curb them. There are several courses of action that can be taken by the Security Council in this regard. These are: a. Make recommendations as per Article 39; b. Ask the parties to comply with the provisions as given in Article 40; c. Take up diplomatic and economic measures as per Article 41; and d. Enforce military measures in accordance to Article 42. 3. If special agreements remain absent between the Member States, limited actions for enforcement can be taken to secure the environment (Ruys, 2010). a. Regional Organisation Enforcement Actions: Though organisations like the Arab League or the African Union do not possess the authority to use force, yet, they can resort to resolving disputes in a peaceful way. They undergo similar embargo on use of force but have the power to sort out and settle disputes (Gray, 2000). b. Self Defense: Article 51 of the UN Charter provides that all States shall have the right to exercise self defense if case of an armed assail occurring against them. But there are two requirements to justify such an attack. These are of a reasonable necessity and proportionality which in simple terms means that the force should be absolutely necessary to sort out the dispute and at the same time, it should be in proportion to the attack that is posed on them. This self-defense can be individual, collective or anticipatory. The United States relies on the United Nations Charter and the Humanitarian Law as an authority to use force in the Global War on Terror (Gazzini and Tsagourias, 2012). References Gazzini, T. and Tsagourias, N. (2012). The use of force in international law. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate. Gray, C. (2000). International law and the use of force. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ruys, T. (2010). "Armed attack" and Article 51 of the UN Charter. New York: Cambridge University Press. Schweigman, D. (2001). The authority of the Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.