The Relevance Of International Law On World Peace And Order

Slavery has been defined as “the complete control of a person, for economic exploitation, by violence, or the threat of violence”. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights 1948 in Article 4 states that “no one should be held in slavery or servitude, slavery in all its forms should be eliminated”. International Law has addressed the issue of slavery through instituting treaties, conventions and declarations which is binding on all subjects of international law. This has been made evident form the League of Nations to the 1926 Convention to the 1956 Supplementary Convention. The UN Working Group further extended the definition of slavery to include forced prostitution, pornography involving both children and adults, the selling of human organs, serfdom, debt bondage, forced prostitution, and the use of humans for armed conflict. Professor Kevin Bales estimates about twenty-seven million people in slavery. The area from a country’s shore extending 12 nautical miles away into the sea known as “territorial waters”. As such, the country has legal rights over all things found on and within that particular area be it fish or oil. In addition there is the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Ships are however allowed to navigate through the EEZ but cannot extract any natural resource from the sea. Outside these 12 nautical miles (22km) for the country’s coastline lie international or trans-boundary waters or high-seas. It has already been established that there is the need for a set of rules and principles to regulate the state behavior, ergo, international laws govern the intercourse of states within these territories through the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) and subsequently, the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC). A case where the Law of the Sea has been used in maintaining peace is the Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire maritime dispute where the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for Law of the Sea rejected Cote d’Ivoire’s claim that Ghana had violated its sovereign rights. In relation to nuclear energy, international law plays a relevant role in maintaining world peace and order by encouraging the peaceful use of nuclear weapons and constraining its use for military purposes. This is institutionalized by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Although it was established independently of the United Nations through the IAEA statutes, it reports to the General Assembly of the UN and the Security Council when necessary .i.e. during instances of noncompliance of members of safeguarding and security obligations. Article II of the IAEA Statutes states its objective as to “accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace…” It was established to “ensure safe and secure nuclear science and technologies” Pillars (2005) records. In executing its functions, the agency carries out its activities in accordance to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter to promote peace and international cooperation and in conformity with the policies of the UN for establishing worldwide disarmament safeguards. During the 2005 Nobel Peace Awards, Director of IAEA, Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, stated that 'at a time when disarmament efforts appear deadlocked, when there is a danger that nuclear arms will spread both to states and to terrorist groups, and when nuclear power again appears to be playing an increasingly significant role, IAEA's work is of incalculable importance.' The Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran for failing to halt uranium enrichment by unanimously adopting resolution 1737 (2006). The Council then requested a report from the Director General of the IAEA on whether Iran’s compliance process. Iran however stated that unlike Israel it had never attacked or threatened to use force against any UN member state. In spite of these, critiques have argued that International Law has failed its purpose. They are of the view that: that it lacks a centralized or effective legislature, executive, or judiciary; that it favors powerful over weak states; that it often simply mirrors extant international behavior; and that it is sometimes violated with impunity. They further argue that, world witnessed United States violation of the Laws on Intervention on countless occasions.

For instance the cases of U.S in Libya, Congo, Nicaragua and Iran yet no relevant sanction has been placed on the US due it the position it holds as it downplays the relevance of international law. To conclude, although globalization has increased the complexities of international law, international law continues to play an essential role in the maintenance of world ‘peace’ and ‘order’ through its various established principles and international organizations. The establishment and implementation of these laws ensures to a large extent the avoidance of Hobbes description of the “state of nature as solitaire, nasty, brutish, poor and short”. The Rule of Law must be enforced to enable it play a strong role in regulating the relations between states. Imposing actual sanctions with drastic effects on reputation and credibility of states that breach international laws should be enforced. This will help curb the number of countries who override these globally established and accepted rules and principles. Not only is there a need for compliance to the role of law, but also the competence of regional organizations must be expanded because of their familiarity with conflict with their regions. They are thus better suited during mediation.