•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Peacekeeping operations have become an integral component of the United Nations in promoting global peace and security. Yet, as demands increase to hold peacekeepers accountable for their misdeeds, the legal principle of attribution within the framework of the law of responsibility remains ambiguous and difficult to define. Hence, this study aims to contribute to the discourse on the attribution of the Peacekeepers' conduct, especially on the presumptive v. preventive interpretation of Article 7 Draft Articles on Responsibility of International Organizations. Under the presumptive interpretation, the peacekeeper’s action is presumed to be attributed to the UN; however, attribution can be rebutted if Troop Contributing States (TCS) exercise control over the peacekeepers. In contrast, preventive interpretation argues that attribution must be determined by which entity, TCS or the UN, has the power to prevent the alleged conduct. This study analyzed how the Dutch Supreme Court’s rulings in 2019 approached the question of attribution toward the Dutch Battalion during the mission of UNPROFOR. The Supreme Court found that the action of the Dutch Battalion was attributable to the Netherlands since the Netherlands fulfills the elements of effective control as governed under Article 8 ARSIWA. Moreover, the Supreme Court rejected the preventive interpretation earlier endorsed in the Nuhanovic case. This study employed a normative juridical approach. This study argues that the Court’s rulings on presumptive interpretation are aligned with the practices of the UN’s peacekeepers and the intended purpose of Article 7 DARIO, which emphasizes attribution on factual consideration.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v10n2.a4

References

Books

Abass, Ademola. Regional Organisations and the Development of Collective Security: Beyond Chapter VIII of the UN Charter. Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2004.

Barkin, J. Samuel. International Organization Theories and Institutions. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.

Besson, Samantha. Theories of International Responsibility Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Gasbarri, Lorenzo. The Concept of an International Organization in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Jett, Dennis C. Why Peacekeeping Fails. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

Katz, Jacob (et.al.) The Oxford Handbook of International Organizations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Klabbers, Jan. An Introduction to International Institutional Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Kondoch, Boris. International Peacekeeping. New York: Routledge, 2016.

Koops, Joachim A. (et.al.) The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Nadin, Peter. The Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping. New York: Routledge, 2018.

Nollkaemper, André and Ilias Plakokefalos. Principles of Shared Responsibility in International Law: An Appraisal of the State of the Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Shaw, Malcolm. International Law 6th Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Stefano, Carlo De. Attribution in International Law and Arbitration. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Other Documents

D’Argent, Pierre. “State Organs Placed at the Disposal of the UN, Effective Control, Wrongful Abstention, and Dual Attribution of Conduct.” Question of International Law 1 (2014): 27-28.

Dannenbaum, Tom. “Translating the Standard of Effective Control into a System of Effective Accountability: How Liability Should be Apportioned for Violations of Human Rights by Member State Troop Contingents Serving as United Nations Peacekeepers.” Harvard International Law Journal 51, no. 1 (2010): 113-192.

Ekanayake, Charuka and Susan Harris Rimmer. “Applying Effective Control to the Conduct of UN Forces.” International Organizations Law Review 15, no. 1 (2018): 9-38. https://doi.org/10.1163/15723747-01501002.

Gaja, Giorgio. “Responsibility of International Organization, Document A/CN.4/541.” (Second Report on Responsibility of International Organizations, 2014).

Larsen, Kjetil Mujezinović. “Attribution of Conduct in Peace Operations: The ‘Ultimate Authority and Control’ Test.” The European Journal of International Law 19, no. 3 (2008): 509-531. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chn029.

Mileva, Nina. “State Responsibility in Peacekeeping: The Effect of Responsibility on Future Contributions.” Utrecht Law Review 12, no. 1 (2016): 122-138. http://doi.org/10.18352/ulr.328.

Moldner, Mirka. “Responsibility of International Organizations - Introducing the ILC’s DARIO.” Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 16 (2012): 281-328.

Nedeski, Nataša and Berenice Boutin. “The Continuing Saga of State Responsibility for The Conduct of Peacekeeping Forces: Recent Practice of Dutch and Belgian Courts.” Amsterdam Center for International Law No. 2020-12 (2020): 1-29.

Okada, Yohei. “Effective Control Test at The Interface Between the Law of International Responsibility and The Law of International Organizations: Managing Concerns Over the Attribution of UN Peacekeepers’ Conduct to Troop-Contributing Nations.” Leiden Journal of International Law 32, no. 2 (2019): 275-291. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0922156519000062.

___________. “What’s Wrong with Behrami and Saramati? Revisiting the Dichotomy between UN Peacekeeping and UN-authorized Operations in Terms of Attribution.” Journal of Conflict & Security Law 24, no. 2 (2019): 343-371. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcsl/krz003.

Oxford Public International Law, Mukeshimana-Ngulinzira and ors v Belgium and Ors, “First Instance Judgment, RG No 04/4807/A, 07/15547/A, ILDC 1604 (BE 2010).” December 8, 2010, Belgium. https://opil.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law-ildc/1604be10.case.1/law-ildc-1604be10.

Palchetti, Paolo. “Attributing the Conduct of Dutchbat in Srebrenica: the 2014 Judgment of the District Court in the Mothers of Srebrenica Case.” Netherland International Law Review 62, no. 2 (2015): 279-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40802-015-0027-9.

_____________. “International Responsibility for Conduct of UN Peacekeeping Forces: The Question of Attribution.” Sequencia (Florianopolis) 70, no. 1 (2015): 19-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2177-7055.2015v36n70p19.

_____________. “The Allocation of Responsibility for Internationally Wrongful Acts Committed in the Course of Multinational Operations.” International Review of the Red Cross 95, no. 891/892 (2013): 727-742. 10.1017/S1816383114000241.

Rosa Nasution, Aulia. “The Crime of Genocide on the Rohingya Ethnic in Myanmar from the Perspective of International Law and Human Rights.” Padjadjaran Journal of Law 5, no. 1 (2018): 182-206. http://dx.doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v5n1.a10.

Ruys, Tom. “Mukeshimana-Ngulinzira and Others v. Belgium and Others.” American Journal of International Law 114, no. 2 (2020): 268-275. https://doi.org/10.1017/ajil.2020.7.

Ryngaert, Cedric and Otto Spijkers. “The End of the Road: State Liability for Acts of UN Peacekeeping Contingents After the Dutch Supreme Court’s Judgment in Mothers of Srebrenica (2019).” Netherlands International Law Review 66, no. 3 (2019): 537-553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40802-019-00149-z.

Ryngaert, Cedric. “Apportioning Responsibility Between the UN and Member States in UN Peace-Support Operations: An Inquiry Into the Application of the ‘Effective Control’ Standard After Behrami.” Israel Law Review 45, no. 1 (2012): 151-178. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021223711000070.

_____________. “Attributing Conduct in the Law of State Responsibility: Lessons from Dutch Courts Applying the Control Standard in the Context of International Military Operations.” Utrecht Journal of International and European Law 36, no. 2 (2021): 170-180. https://doi.org/10.5334/ujiel.546.

Sari, Aurel. “UN Peacekeeping Operations and Article 7 ARIO: The Missing Link.” International Organizations Law Review 9, no. 1 (2012): 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1163/15723747-00901013.

Spagnolo, Andrea. “The ‘Reciprocal’ Approach in Article 7 ARIO: A Reply to Pierre d’Argent.” Questions of International Law 1 (2014): 33-41.

Tsega, Chimdessa Fekadu. “The Responsibility of International Organizations for Wrongful Acts in Peacekeeping Operations: The Case for Dual Attributions.” Indian Journal of International Law 59, no. 1 (2020): 301-322. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4078517.

Legal Documents

Appeal Court of the Netherlands, Mothers of Srebrenica v. The Netherlands (Judgment of 19 July 2019).

Appeal Court of the Netherlands, The Netherland v. Nuhanovic (Judgment of 5 July 2011).

Court of First Instance of Brussels, Mukeshimana-Ngulinzira v. Belgian State (Judgment of 8 December 2010).

District Court of Netherlands, The Netherlands v. Nuhanovic (Judgment of 10 September 2008).

District Court of the Netherlands, Mothers of Srebrenica Association v. The Netherlands (Judgment of 16 July 2014).

European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Behrami and Behrami v. France and Saramati v. France, Germany, and Norway, Decision (Grand Chamber), 2 May 2007.

International Court of Justice, Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), 2007.

International Court of Justice, Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Judgment, 1986.

International Court of Justice, Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations (Advisory Opinion of 11 April 1949).

International Law Commission, Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, with commentaries, UN Doc A/56/10.

International Law Commission, Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations, with Commentaries, A/66/10.

Supreme Court of the Netherlands, Mothers of Srebrenica Association v. The Netherlands (Judgment of 6 September 2013).

Supreme Court of the Netherlands, The Netherlands v. Nuhanovic (Judgment of 6 September 2013).

United Nations Charter.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 743 (1992).

United Nations Security Council Resolution 819 (1993).

DOI

https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v10n2.a4

Download

Share

COinS