HUMANITARIAN AND SECURITY LAW
LECTURE NOTES: CONFLICT PREVENTION
2. CONFLICT PREVENTION
2.1. INTRODUCTION
► An attempt to have a more comprehensive look at the conflict cycle → looking at instruments for
conflict prevention first.
► Conflict prevention is a really common sensesical principle. If we can prevent a war from occurring –
we should do it.
o E.g., Some Hague Regulations attempted to introduce some proceduralisation in hope that it
would lead to the cooling down of tempers.
o E.g., Also, the League of Nations Statute.
o E.g., Briand-Kellog Treaty Pact
▪ Ratified by many countries.
▪ But also, high level of attempts to bypass the definition of “war”
▪ Failed to prevent the realization of WWI.
o E.g., UN Charter – attempt to prevent and also prohibit warfare.
► Francisco De Goya, The Disasters of War series (painting on slides)
o Initial perception of war as a patriotic act.
o Goya was one of the first artists to oppose the cruelty of war => importance of artistry and civil
society (also Henri Dunant).
2.2. LEGAL INSTRUMENTS
► Non-aggression pacts
o E.g., the one between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1938.
o When countries fear each other and want to distance themselves from the danger.
► “Cooling-off” periods (Hague Regulations, League of Nations)
o Have to declare war → then have to wait for a bit before proceeding
o Giving the Council of league of Nations to do something in that time
► Prohibition of war
► UN Charter
1
, HUMANITARIAN AND SECURITY LAW
LECTURE NOTES: CONFLICT PREVENTION
o Preamble: “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime
has brought untold sorrow to mankind…”
▪ Idea from the outset to prevent a war of the scale of WWI from occurring ever again
=> collective Security System (with the UNSC at its core) with a central purpose of
prohibiting war.
o Art. 1(1): ‘Prevention and removal of threats to the peace’
o Art. 2(3): Pacific settlement of disputes
o Art. 2(5): Obligation of all MS to give UN assistance and “refrain from giving assistance to any
state against which the [UN] is taking preventive or enforcement action”. North Macedonia
example
o Art. 5: suspension of a MS against which preventive action taken.
▪ Not very successful, because the UN has always attempted to keep countries “in” the
UN and has rarely suspended.
o Art. 33(1): Techniques: Negotiation - Good offices – Mediation – Enquiry – Conciliation –
Arbitration - Judicial settlement - Resort to regional agencies/arrangements
o References to ‘preventive’ action of the UNSC: Art. 2(5), 5, 40, 50, 53
o => Lowered level of inter-state wars since the creation of the UN
► Some specific treaties
o Convention on prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (1948)
▪ Art. 1: Contracting Parties “undertake to prevent”.
▪ How far is the scope of the duty to prevent? → not only for the state in which a
Genocide occurs → for all state-parties of the Convention.
▪ Popular convention before the ICJ (because it has a clause giving ICJ jurisdiction).
▪ Myanmar Rohingya case still pending.
o Convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against internationally protected
persons (1973)
▪ E.g., against diplomats and foreign ministers.
o Council of Europe Convention prevention of terrorism (2005)
o Arms Trade Treaty (2013): ‘Prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms and
prevent their diversion’ (Art. 1)
o Nuclear Weapon Ban treaty (2017): … emphasizing that … all States share the responsibility to
prevent any use of nuclear weapons (Preamble).
2
, HUMANITARIAN AND SECURITY LAW
LECTURE NOTES: CONFLICT PREVENTION
► Expressions in general international law
o Draft Declaration on Rights and Duties of States (ILC 1949, Art. 4): “Every State has the duty to
refrain from fomenting civil strife in the territory of another State, and to prevent the
organization within its territory of activities calculated to foment such civil strife.”
▪ Did not come into existence as an actual declaration, BUT
▪ Often now cited as customary international law.
▪ Duty to prevent of every state in its territory
o Declaration on Inadmissibility of Intervention and Interference in Internal Affairs of States
(UNGA, 1981) (g) “The duty of a State to prevent on its territory the training, financing and
recruitment of mercenaries, or the sending of such mercenaries into the territory of another
State and to deny facilities, including financing, for the equipping and transit of mercenaries”
(m) “The duty of a State to refrain from using terrorist practices as state policy against another
State or against peoples under colonial domination, foreign occupation or racist régimes and
to prevent any assistance to or use of or tolerance of terrorist groups, saboteurs or subversive
agents against third States”
2.3. POLICY INSTRUMENTS
► In the 1990s, there were very optimistic years and prospects for international cooperation.
o E.g., Against Saddam Hussein and the UNSC for the first time reinforcing Chapter VII.
► Boutros Boutros-Ghali, An Agenda for Peace (Report on the Request of the UNSC) – various measures
for possible conflict prevention:
1. Preventive diplomacy
o Full range of methods (Art. 33 UN)
o Direct negotiations→ peace talk in Ukraine/ Russia talks; third party getting involved = good
offices
o Quiet preventive diplomacy – usually the most successful one (Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe – on-site activities in hot-spots)
▪ E.g., long-terms missions/on-site activities OSCE
▪ E.g., High Commissioner on National Minorities OSCE (The Hague) – little assets of the
office, but very good at behind-the-scenes preventive diplomacy in cooling down
emerging tensions between ethnic communities.
o “Early” preventive diplomacy:
3
LECTURE NOTES: CONFLICT PREVENTION
2. CONFLICT PREVENTION
2.1. INTRODUCTION
► An attempt to have a more comprehensive look at the conflict cycle → looking at instruments for
conflict prevention first.
► Conflict prevention is a really common sensesical principle. If we can prevent a war from occurring –
we should do it.
o E.g., Some Hague Regulations attempted to introduce some proceduralisation in hope that it
would lead to the cooling down of tempers.
o E.g., Also, the League of Nations Statute.
o E.g., Briand-Kellog Treaty Pact
▪ Ratified by many countries.
▪ But also, high level of attempts to bypass the definition of “war”
▪ Failed to prevent the realization of WWI.
o E.g., UN Charter – attempt to prevent and also prohibit warfare.
► Francisco De Goya, The Disasters of War series (painting on slides)
o Initial perception of war as a patriotic act.
o Goya was one of the first artists to oppose the cruelty of war => importance of artistry and civil
society (also Henri Dunant).
2.2. LEGAL INSTRUMENTS
► Non-aggression pacts
o E.g., the one between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1938.
o When countries fear each other and want to distance themselves from the danger.
► “Cooling-off” periods (Hague Regulations, League of Nations)
o Have to declare war → then have to wait for a bit before proceeding
o Giving the Council of league of Nations to do something in that time
► Prohibition of war
► UN Charter
1
, HUMANITARIAN AND SECURITY LAW
LECTURE NOTES: CONFLICT PREVENTION
o Preamble: “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime
has brought untold sorrow to mankind…”
▪ Idea from the outset to prevent a war of the scale of WWI from occurring ever again
=> collective Security System (with the UNSC at its core) with a central purpose of
prohibiting war.
o Art. 1(1): ‘Prevention and removal of threats to the peace’
o Art. 2(3): Pacific settlement of disputes
o Art. 2(5): Obligation of all MS to give UN assistance and “refrain from giving assistance to any
state against which the [UN] is taking preventive or enforcement action”. North Macedonia
example
o Art. 5: suspension of a MS against which preventive action taken.
▪ Not very successful, because the UN has always attempted to keep countries “in” the
UN and has rarely suspended.
o Art. 33(1): Techniques: Negotiation - Good offices – Mediation – Enquiry – Conciliation –
Arbitration - Judicial settlement - Resort to regional agencies/arrangements
o References to ‘preventive’ action of the UNSC: Art. 2(5), 5, 40, 50, 53
o => Lowered level of inter-state wars since the creation of the UN
► Some specific treaties
o Convention on prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (1948)
▪ Art. 1: Contracting Parties “undertake to prevent”.
▪ How far is the scope of the duty to prevent? → not only for the state in which a
Genocide occurs → for all state-parties of the Convention.
▪ Popular convention before the ICJ (because it has a clause giving ICJ jurisdiction).
▪ Myanmar Rohingya case still pending.
o Convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against internationally protected
persons (1973)
▪ E.g., against diplomats and foreign ministers.
o Council of Europe Convention prevention of terrorism (2005)
o Arms Trade Treaty (2013): ‘Prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms and
prevent their diversion’ (Art. 1)
o Nuclear Weapon Ban treaty (2017): … emphasizing that … all States share the responsibility to
prevent any use of nuclear weapons (Preamble).
2
, HUMANITARIAN AND SECURITY LAW
LECTURE NOTES: CONFLICT PREVENTION
► Expressions in general international law
o Draft Declaration on Rights and Duties of States (ILC 1949, Art. 4): “Every State has the duty to
refrain from fomenting civil strife in the territory of another State, and to prevent the
organization within its territory of activities calculated to foment such civil strife.”
▪ Did not come into existence as an actual declaration, BUT
▪ Often now cited as customary international law.
▪ Duty to prevent of every state in its territory
o Declaration on Inadmissibility of Intervention and Interference in Internal Affairs of States
(UNGA, 1981) (g) “The duty of a State to prevent on its territory the training, financing and
recruitment of mercenaries, or the sending of such mercenaries into the territory of another
State and to deny facilities, including financing, for the equipping and transit of mercenaries”
(m) “The duty of a State to refrain from using terrorist practices as state policy against another
State or against peoples under colonial domination, foreign occupation or racist régimes and
to prevent any assistance to or use of or tolerance of terrorist groups, saboteurs or subversive
agents against third States”
2.3. POLICY INSTRUMENTS
► In the 1990s, there were very optimistic years and prospects for international cooperation.
o E.g., Against Saddam Hussein and the UNSC for the first time reinforcing Chapter VII.
► Boutros Boutros-Ghali, An Agenda for Peace (Report on the Request of the UNSC) – various measures
for possible conflict prevention:
1. Preventive diplomacy
o Full range of methods (Art. 33 UN)
o Direct negotiations→ peace talk in Ukraine/ Russia talks; third party getting involved = good
offices
o Quiet preventive diplomacy – usually the most successful one (Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe – on-site activities in hot-spots)
▪ E.g., long-terms missions/on-site activities OSCE
▪ E.g., High Commissioner on National Minorities OSCE (The Hague) – little assets of the
office, but very good at behind-the-scenes preventive diplomacy in cooling down
emerging tensions between ethnic communities.
o “Early” preventive diplomacy:
3
