International Law Essay - 1,273 words

International Law The United Nations United Nations Peacekeeping is the most prominent U.N. activity. The blue helmets on the front lines of conflict on four continents are a symbol of the United Nations commitment to international peace and security. They come from some 65 countries, representing more than 35 percent of the membership. Peacekeeping is a United Nations invention. It was not specifically defined in the charter but evolved as a noncoercive instrument of conflict control at a time when Cold War constraints prevented the Security Council from taking the more forceful steps permitted by the charter. Thirteen peacekeeping operations were established between 1948 and 1978.


Five of them remain in existence, and are between 14 and 44 years old. Peacekeeping has sometimes proved easier than the complementary function of peacemaking. This shows that peacekeeping, by itself cannot provide the permanent solution to a conflict. Only political negotiation can do that. The different modes of peacekeeping have had far-reaching implications for the way in which U.N. operations are organized and conducted. In internal conflicts, or in interstate conflicts, where one or other of the governments is not in a position to exercise full authority over territory nominally under its control, not all the parties are governments.


As a result, the peacekeepers have had to learn how to deal with a multiplicity of authorities. The leaders of such groups are often inaccessible and their identity even un known; chains of command are shadowy; armed persons who offend against agreements signed by their supposed leaders are disowned; discipline is nonexistent or brutal. And everywhere there is an evil and uncontrolled proliferation of arms. The proliferation of institutions that characterize U.N. work in the economic, social and environment fields has been another product of previous decades. Member states often pressed for measure on a piecemeal basis.


Bureaucracies were sometimes set up as substitutes for problem-solving and served, in some cases , to camouflage problems rather than expose them to serious attention. The International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice or the World Court is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The headquarters is located at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It began its work in 1946 and it succeeded the Permanent Court of International Justice. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the Court. Its judicial activity is vase and its main functions are settling of legal disputes and giving advisory opinions on some legal questions. This body has been giving increasing help to developing countries.


Composed of 15 permanent judges who are elected by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council. The judges can deliver joint judgments or they can also give their own opinions on a case. In case there is equal division, decisions and the advisory opinions happen when the Presidents Advisory Opinions are taken by majority and in case of an equal division, it is the Presidents vote that becomes decisive. World Trade Organization In the website of the WTO it is mentioned that the WTO is the only worldwide organization that deals with the rules of trade between nations.The very essence of this organization is the trade agreement that its brokers base their decisions between most of the worlds trading nations which are also ratified by the governments of these countries.The ultimate goal of the WTO is to assist producers of goods and services, as well as exporters and importers conduct their businesses progressively.The WTO first came into existence on January 01, 1995.It was created during the Uruguay Round of negotiations between 1986 and 1994. As of December 2005, there are 149 nations under the WTO, and its current Director General is Pascal Lamy. In the same website, it is stated that the WTO is the successor of the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade, whi ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: united nations, trade agreement, international court, international court of justice, international law

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