‘International law is not without sanctions although these sections are generally for the international law in general. Explain in reference to the sanctions available under international law against violators of the law.’
Introduction:
Sanction is a penalty imposed for violating accepted social norms. A sanction may be civil or criminal in nature. Criminal sanctions are fine, imprisonment, or both
What is Sanction?
A penalty imposed for violating accepted social norms. A sanction may be civil or criminal in nature. Criminal sanctions are fine, imprisonment, or both. Sanction, in law and ethics, any inducement to individuals or groups to follow or refrain from following a particular course of conduct. All societies impose sanctions on their members in order to encourage approved behavior. A sanction may be either positive, i.e., the promise of reward for desired conduct, or negative, i.e., the threat of penalty for disapproved conduct, but the term is most commonly used in the negative sense. This is particularly true of the sanctions employed in international relations.
Sanction Law?
[1] Sanctions are a financial or other penalties imposed by a judge on a party or attorney for violation of a court rule, for receiving a special waiver of a rule, or as a fine for contempt of court. The sanction may be paid to the court or to the opposing party to compensate the other side for inconvenience or extra legal work required to respond to the sanctioned conduct. In one noted case, an attorney was sanctioned for filing a frivolous case by being ordered to go back to school.
International Sanctions:
[2] International sanctions are actions taken by countries against others for political reasons, either unilaterally or multilaterally.
There are several types of sanctions.
- Diplomatic sanctions – the reduction or removal of diplomatic ties, such as embassies.
- Economic sanctions – typically a ban on trade, possibly limited to certain sectors such as armaments, or with certain exceptions (such as food and medicine)
- Military sanctions – military intervention
- Sport sanctions – preventing one country’s people and teams from competing in international events.
Enforcement Of International Law:
International law is a monument to successful laws, without much enforcement. In the particular field of environmental law, some scholars actually argue that international environmental law is less well suited to enforcement than other areas of international law. In other words, emphasizing enforcement could actually make international environmental law less, not more successful.
[3] Enforcement thus consists of some form of legally imposed sanction. A monetary fine is an example of a punishment that is not physical. Physical punishments include being deprived of your freedom. In all cases of law violation, the law responds by depriving you of one or more of your entitlements.
Enforcement is defined as “the compelling of obedience to law.” In domestic legal systems, the executive or judiciary enforce the law generally by imposing sanctions on those who disobey the law. Domestic systems may do this by controlling the assets, freedom, or the very existence of law breakers.’ In contrast to domestic legal systems, the international legal system lacks a fully developed judiciary and executive.
Sanctions To Enforce International Law:
Most people consider sanctions a peaceful and effective means to enforce international law. Under Article 41 of the UN Charter, the Security Council may call on Member States “to apply measures not involving the use of armed force to give effect to its decisions.” Typically, sanctions cut off trade and investments, preventing a target country from buying or selling goods in the global marketplace.
Sanctions enjoy a good reputation that many now question. Increasingly, critics charge that sanctions are cruel, unfair and even violent. International law has developed no standards on which sanctions can be based or the destructive impact of sanctions limited. Ironically, then, sanctions are used to enforce law, but they are outside of the law.
Sanctions Available Under International Law In Burundi and Sudan:
In the summer of 1996, the Council imposed a new sanctions regime on Burundi due to a coup d’état and deteriorating inter-ethnic conflict. Given the poverty of the country, there was serious concern about the humanitarian effect of the sanctions. On August 6, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that the Burundi sanctions were preventing humanitarian aid from entering the country, threatening the well being of hundreds of thousands of people. WFP warned that the cut-off of emergency food, medicine and fuel might exacerbate ethnic tensions. At about the same time, ironically, the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs dispatched a 5-person mission to Burundi to examine the consequences of sanctions and the mission was at first blocked from the country because of sanctions-imposed barriers to air travel in neighboring Kenya.
In December 1997, DHA produced a report on the regional sanctions against Burundi based on a mission sent to the Great Lakes region in October. In addition, according to a March 1997 report, sanctions have created hyperinflation and increasing unemployment. The Council has also faced criticism on its Sudan sanctions, likewise imposed in 1996. The Sudan sanctions are similar to the Libyan sanctions, for they are designed to force the Sudanese government to turn over alleged criminals — in this case people who allegedly attempted to assassinate President Mubarak of Egypt. International lawyers insist that this goes beyond the proper bounds for the Council’s action and that it undermines the system of extradition treaties. Sudan’s economy is already in very great difficulty, critics point out. Sanctions make matters worse and seem certain to impose hardships that will not be justified.
Sanctions Available Under International Law Against Violators Of Law:
(1) A preventive measure enacted by the state and consisting of certain penalties applied against a violator of the law. In establishing a sanction in law and applying it, the Soviet government instills in the members of society and awareness of the need to observe legal precepts, induces the members to maintain a certain conduct, and protects law and order, thereby providing for the proper development of social relations.
There are several types of sanctions, distinguished according to the nature of the measures applied against violators and the, bodies applying them. Only a court applies criminal law sanctions; they include deprivation of freedom, exile, banishment, or corrective labor. Administrative law sanctions, such as fines and administrative arrest, are applied by the militia, the organs of people’s control, and state inspectorates.
(2) That part of a legal norm that contains indications of possible measures to be taken by the state against the violator of the given norm. A sanction is a legal guarantee of the prevention and eradication of violations of the law.
Soviet law is characterized by the tendency to establish prescribed sanctions that precisely indicate the nature and degree of the measure applied against the violator of the law or that indicate the nature and the minimum and maximum degree of the measure. (3) An act by a procurator permitting compulsory measures against a person suspected of a crime, for example, detention, lien, search, or the seizure of postal and telegraphs correspondence.
A. F. SHCHEBANOV
(4) In international law, measures applied against a state in the event it violates international obligations or the standards of international law. One of the fundamentals of modern international law is the principle of the responsibility of a state, according to which a state is obliged to provide compensation for losses caused by its illegal actions; appropriate sanctions can be applied against the state for such actions. The legal consequences that ensue in the event a state commits a crime or a simple international violation of law are not the same. With a violation of law causing damage to any state or group of states, the violator state is obliged to restore the violated rights or provide corresponding satisfaction. In the event of international crimes that violate the fundamental principles of international relations and cause harm to the entire international community of states, sanctions must be applied immediately against the violator state. are primarily political measures that the Security Council can apply at its discretion to maintain and restore international peace and security.
V. I. MENZHINSKII
Continuation Of Sanctions Available Under International Law:
The term “sanction,” in its widest sense, means “any measure taken in support of a social order regulating human behavior” .The purpose of a sanction is to bring about a behavior considered to be in conformity with the goals and standards of a society and to prevent that behavior which is inconsistent with these goals and standards.
It is sometimes asserted, particularly with reference to Austin’s definition of law, that international law is not law because it lacks the sanctions of municipal law. International law has sanctions comparable with those of municipal law, though admittedly weaker.
Conclusion:
International law has existed in its modem form for 350 years without domestic-type enforcement institutions. Nevertheless, states and other international actors generally comply with international law and specifically international environmental law. In the increasingly detailed area of environmental law, however, improved enforcement mechanisms can be developed. As environmental rules become more detailed and aim evermore at the activities of persons and corporations, domestic courts will have the advantage of control over persons and assets. Therefore, domestic courts have the ability to effectively enforce environmental rules and support the greater success of those rules in the future.
Reference:
(1) www.google.com
(2) www.yahoo.com
(4) http://law.yourdictionary.com/sanction
(5) http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/sanctions
(6) http://www.tutorgigpedia.com/ed/Unilaterally
(7) http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu
(9) The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc.
(10) Kelsen, Hans 1957 Collective Security Under International Law. U.S. Naval War College, International Law Studies, Vol. 49. Washington: Government Printing Office.
(12) http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/irrc-870_la_rosa-wuerzner.pdf
(13) http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/s110.htm
(14) http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sanction
[1] http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/sanctions <Date Of Access: 3/03/2013>
[2] http://www.tutorgigpedia.com/ed/Unilaterally <Date Of Access: 3/03/2013>
[3]Antony D’Amato/International Law really ‘Law’? / http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu /<Date Of Success: 3/03/2013>