Chapter

Applicable law : jus ad bellum, jus in bello, and the legacy of the UN Compensation Commission

Veijo Heiskanen and Nicolas Leroux

War reparations and the UN Compensation Commission : designing compensation after conflict

Oxford [etc.] : Oxford University Press, 2015

p. 51-80

English

Photocopies

United Nations (UN) Security Council (UNSC) resolution 687 (1991) affirms Iraq’s liability for the invasion and occupation of Kuwait, and empowers the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) to decide claims arising from that liability. Resolution 687 (1991) does not stipulate whether the UNCC was remitted to apply jus in bello, the law of armed conflict, or jus ad bellum, the law of peace. The decisions of the UNCC Governing Council also fail to clarify which body of law is being applied in their decisions. This article argues that the law applied by the Governing Council appears, almost exclusively, to be jus ad bellum. Yet several claims arose in circumstances that should have arguably situated them within the purview of jus in bello. Thus, Iraq may have been assigned liability for more offences, and afforded fewer defenses, than would reasonably apply under jus in bello. The article asserts that this stems from implicit assumptions made by the UNCC about Iraq’s liability in connection with its invasion and occupation of Kuwait. [Summary by students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (IHRP)]