International Law On Humanitarian Intervention In Kosovo War

Humanitarian intervention has once again become a heated discussion in the domain of the international law in the wake of the Kosovo War. Against the very context of the war, this thesis exposes and analyzes the humanitarian intervention in the perspective of international law. This thesis, proceeding from the grounds underpinning the humanitarian intervention by the NATO and its member states, analyzes their basic position in the problem of humanitarian intervention. It attempts to analyzes the legality of humanitarian intervention and its status in the contemporary international law from two aspects. One is the basic understanding and attitudes of the contemporary international lawyers towards the definition of the humanitarian intervention. It is well-known that the writings of publicists are the subsidiary means for the determination of international legal rules, therefore the understanding and attitudes of contemporary international lawyers towards the humanitarian intervention plays a significant role in the determination of the legality and its status of humanitarian intervention in international law. The other is the relations between humanitarian intervention and the two main sources of international law, namely, treaties and customs. The thesis first expounds that humanitarian intervention violates two major principles provided for in the UN Charter: rohibition from the use or the threat of use of force ?and on-intervention? An investigation is further made to identify whether humanitarian intervention is sustained by the two constitutive elements of the customary rules: opinio juris and usus, hereby concluding whether humanitarian intervention constitutes an effective international customary rule. In the end, the thesis presents a conclusion concerning the humanitarian intervention from the perspective of the international law as well as the writer抯 personal viewpoints thereof.