In late July 2023, the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) set: “within one week, take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger”, and they do not exclude that “[s]uch measures may include the use of force”, and therefore to intervene militarily in Niger. Indeed, in international politics, sometimes a State or group of States claims the existence of a “right of intervention”, which may be “humanitarian”, to justify a military intervention such as NATO’s operation in Kosovo in 1999, which was not authorized by the United Nations Security Council. However, in the current state of positive international law, it…

To put it in simple terms: no, it is not possible in the current state of international law. This question concerns the articulation of competences between the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations (UN). As a matter of principle, Article 12 of the UN Charter specifies that while the Security Council is fulfilling its functions, the General Assembly cannot make any recommendation unless the Security Council requests it to do so. Specifically, Article 12(1) of the UN Charter declares that: “While the Security Council is exercising in respect of any dispute or situation the functions assigned to it in…

In 1996, in its advisory opinion on Nuclear Weapons (ICJ Reports 1996), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) examined the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons. Moreover, it is worth to mention that nowadays the creation of such a treaty is under discussion, particularly in the context of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Let us turn to this advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in order to understand what is at stake on Nuclear Weapons. Thus, the Court analyses treaties (concerning the environment, humanitarian law, human rights, the UN Charter, and so on…) for rules concerning nuclear weapons. In addition, the Court examines treaties…