ABSTRACT
The doctrine of humanitarian intervention and its legitimacy in international law has long been a subject of controversy. The critical issue in any debate on humanitarian intervention is the need to harmonize intervention with the principle of sovereignty, which in essence requires that a sovereign state be treated as an independent political unit, its territorial integrity be respected, and it be allowed to pursue its domestic affairs without external interference. These stipulations are essentially those regulating inter-state relations that have evolved since the peace of Westphalia and have been codified as core principles of international law.
Indeed, the issue is a struggle between the ban on the use of force and respect for sovereignty on the one hand, and the duty to uphold and promote human rights on the other. Should the emphasis be on preventing the use of force between states and maintaining stable relations between them or does the protection of citizens’ fundamental rights deserve priority? The relationship between these two interests is convoluted and attracted me to study the subject. From an international law point of view, assessment of humanitarian intervention entails taking account not only of the ban on the use of force between states and respect for territorial integrity which is sovereignty of State, but also of the obligation to protect human rights. Both form an essential part of the international order based on the UN charter, and both are of great importance to the stability and durability of that order. But there is a growing international concern for the protection of human rights to the effect that sovereignty implies responsibility and thus when egregious human rights violation occur, intervention is justified to protect those rights.
This research work will address the tension between state sovereignty and humanitarian intervention. The objective of the legal analysis in this research work is to determine whether the legal and legitimate basis for humanitarian intervention exists under international law and if so, when and under whose authority.
