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Forum
Paper Title: : "Regime Change" Through Armed Intervention? Democratic
Legitimacy and the Use of Force in International Law (full text) *
Description of Forum Paper:
One of the most
challenging international legal developments of the post Cold War era is the
extent to which the traditional blindness of international law towards domestic
constitutional dispensations is being gradually abandoned in favour of a new
concern for the "legitimacy" of internal governmental structures. The
(forthcoming) paper deals with the possible legal consequences, if any, of the
democratic legitimacy thesis on the prohibition of the use of force in
international law. It briefly outlines the concept of democratic legitimacy,
understood here in its limited meaning as a tool for the validation of the
formation and exercise of governmental power in the domestic sphere. It also
looks at the collective use of force "in the name of democracy" under the UN
Charter and the role of the Security Council in domestic crises leading to a
serious disruption of the democratic process. The major part of the project,
however, is devoted to the question whether there exists any justification in
international law for a state or a group of states to use military force
unilaterally to effectuate a change in government and to restore (or even
establish) a democratic order in another state. The answer will be no if the
claim is that there exists or has meanwhile emerged an "autonomous" right of
pro-democratic intervention as a new, customary law-based exception to Art. 2
(4) of the Charter. The answer will be a qualified no if the intervention is
based on a claim of (anticipatory) self-defense or a purported right of
humanitarian intervention. The answer will be yes if the intervention is based
on the request of a democratically elected government, even if this government,
due to a coup d'etat against it, is no longer in effective control of the
country. The author will also argue that even if the original government has
ceased to exist in the course of the coup, a newly formed government in exile
may have the legal authority to ask foreign actors to provide military
assistance in order to ensure that the will of the people is respected.
Biography:
Dr. Christian
Pippan is a lecturer at the Institute of International Law and International
Relations at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz.
His research
focus is on the international and European security system, the external
relations law of the European Union, issues of human rights, democracy and
development, and international law and democratic governance. His publications
in those areas include articles in the Austrian Journal of Public and
International Law and the Heidelberg Journal of International Law. His Ph.D. on
"The promotion of human rights and democracy as an objective of the European
Community's development cooperation policy" was published by Peter Lang
(Frankfurt am Main) in 2002.
While visiting
NYU Law School, Christian Pippan will be conducting research on the concept of
democratic (governmental) legitimacy in international law. His research is
supported by the Austrian Science Fund. |
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