Legitimacy and lawfulness of humanitarian intervention

Abstract

The events of 1999 in Kosovo and East Timor provide an important opportunity to reflect on the practice of humanitarian intervention. Although the Security Council may not generally order a state to take military action under Article 39 or 42, it may authorize a state to do so. If the Security Council authorizes such action, the target state will be unable to retaliate lawfully in self-defense or claim reparations. Article 54 of the UN Charter specifically allows for regional arrangements to take enforcement action with Security Council authorization. A purist might argue that a state or organization should undertake humanitarian intervention only where its motivations are wholly humanitaria..