Is the law of the strongest triumph?
Context
From Ukraine to Congo, passing through Gaza and Iran, examples of violation of the fundamental principles of international law are multiplying. The ban on the use of force, respect for territorial integrity and borders, the obligation to facilitate humanitarian aid are openly flouted.
The major bodies – the UN in mind – suffer from their helplessness to preserve dialogue between states to prevent conflicts. But, in the opinion of our two specialists, international justice, richer than you think, remains solid on its bases.
“A basis common to all the countries on the planet”: Coline Beytout, Deputy Manager International Humanitarian Law at the French Red Cross
Above all, it should be noted that there are currently 120 conflicts in the world and only some of them give this impression of a defeat of the law. But just like it is not because motorists contravene the highway code that it disappears, it is not because belligerents pass over international law that it ceases to exist. The question is therefore not so much the meaning of international law, but that of its respect by states.
In reality, even in the most violent conflicts, international law remains the norm and the belligerents are still trying to justify their attacks with regard to it -rightly or wrongly -, but that is another subject. For example, when a hospital is targeted, the attacker generally says that it was an armed command center. Thus, even if it is contorted and politicized, this right exists and serves as justification and of the basis common to all the countries of the planet. And it also serves the post-war period, in order to find a path of reconciliation. Without international law, there will no longer be any possible discussion between states.
Of course, the question of international justice also arises, which is part of extremely long and unsatisfactory temporalities with regard to the reparation and the right of the victims. But a posteriori, history makes it possible to realize the usefulness of the law: the crimes committed finish, sometimes decades later, by being recognized on legal bases – even if it occurs too late for the victims.
In addition, even in the most violent conflicts, there are concrete demonstrations that international law can be useful and produce effects. For example, in the long conflict that has affected the Democratic Republic of Congo for years, there are notable developments on the issue of children and their inacceptability.
“Regulation does not exclude the balance of power”: Bruno Tirtrais, deputy director of the Foundation for Strategic Research
The idea of an opposition between a world dominated by the law of the strongest and a world organized by law has always existed. Some very visible conflicts can give the impression of a victory for the first. But the fact that these take place in often questionable conditions should not blind us and make us believe that the great pillars that organize life and the relationships between states would have collapsed. The law aims at the regulation of international life, which does not exclude the balance of power.
In addition, it should not be forgotten that international law is not limited to the Charter of the United Nations or even to the law of war: it is also made up of thousands of international treaties as well as a large customary part.
It is not because a state violates a treaty that everyone does, and, in the same way, it is not because some conflicts raise questions in terms of the law of war that it no longer exists.
Furthermore, if international law regulates the relationships between states, it should not be asked more than it can give. There is no final arbitration body which would impose itself on everyone and which could enforce the decisions taken by force if necessary. The intrinsic limit of international law remains the sovereignty of the States.
However, even in this area, there have been great progress in international law, including international criminal courts. For example, if they do not necessarily prevent their actions, the charges by the International Criminal Court of leaders are nonetheless Genoa for them since they run the risk of being arrested in many countries. There is therefore a normative power of law with political implications.
