Neighbourhood Watch? The African Great Lakes Pact and Ius Ad Bellum

Zeitschrift für Ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Vol. 69, pp. 931-959, 2009

30 Pages Posted: 3 Mar 2010 Last revised: 16 Jun 2011

See all articles by Marco Roscini

Marco Roscini

University of Westminster School of Law; Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

Date Written: September 30, 2009

Abstract

This article focuses on the ius ad bellum provisions contained in the Protocol on Non-aggression and Mutual Defence which forms an integral part of the 2006 African Great Lakes Pact. The Protocol contains peculiar provisions that provide the opportunity to develop broader considerations on the alleged African unorthodox approach to the regulation of the use of armed force. The Protocol is not considered in isolation and is analysed taking into account other analogous African treaties, with the ultimate purpose of establishing whether or not its provisions are consistent with existing law. Section 2 deals with the prohibition of aggression and compares the definition contained in the Great Lakes Protocol with that adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1974. Section 3 analyses the right of individual and collective self-defence as contained in the Protocol and discusses its consistency with Article 51 of the UN Charter and customary international law. Finally, the last two sections investigate whether and under what conditions the Protocol provides for further exceptions to the prohibition of the use of force in addition to self-defence, in particular the ‘responsibility to protect’ populations by military means and the right of pro-democratic intervention.

Keywords: Use of force, responsibility to protect, pro-democratic intervention, self-defence, aggression, Africa, Great Lakes

JEL Classification: K33

Suggested Citation

Roscini, Marco, Neighbourhood Watch? The African Great Lakes Pact and Ius Ad Bellum (September 30, 2009). Zeitschrift für Ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Vol. 69, pp. 931-959, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1562572

Marco Roscini (Contact Author)

University of Westminster School of Law ( email )

4 Little Titchfield Street
London, W1W 7UW
United Kingdom

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights ( email )

Villa Moynier
Rue de Lausanne 120B-CP 67-1211
Geneva
Switzerland

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
67
Abstract Views
819
Rank
608,061
PlumX Metrics