In any event, it offers no legal justification for the aggression that has been unleashed.įor Russia, or anyone else, to raise the issue of double standards as a To contend that other States - especially in the West - have no better record when it comes to respecting international law is a morally corrupt and irrelevant distraction. They are a cynical and perverse use of international law by a regime that has no shame, governs by fear, and indulges in lies and propaganda. The arguments presented by the Russian Federation to justify its aggression have no basis whatsoever, whether in fact or in law. International Law addressed this form of whataboutery as it has been manifest Of 24 February 2022 by the President and the Board of the European Society of Hypocrisy or double standards against the person raising it. ‘whataboutery’: seeking to discredit an argument by raising the charge of (presumably, professional bodies for international lawyers like the ILA) in Issued by the ILA Chair by ‘authoritative international organizations’ Iraq) and noting the absence of equivalent statements to the one Law (RAIL), which also seems to be the Russian Branch of the ILA, posted a statement offering aĭefence of Russia’s invasion, pointing out instances of US military actions in That ‘[the importance of all these principles is especially relevant at thisīeen 7 March 2022, the Presidium of the Russian Association of International Stating that it was ‘appropriate at this moment to affirm the Association’sĬommitment to the rules of international law’ and, having reviewed the rulesĬoncerning the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the use of force, stating On 25 February 2022, the day after the invasion was launched, by the ILA Chair, Taking positions on particular situations, put out a statementĭeploring the invasion as a ‘flagrant violation of international law’. Law Association, an organization not previously known for issuing statements So, for example, on 3 March 2022 the Executive Council of the International Invasion of Ukraine in a special category, given treatment that is not and was The response by international lawyers hasīeen similarly exceptional, notably when it comes to statements of international Short of (at the time of writing) other states joining Ukraine directly asĬo-belligerents in its self-defence. Wide-ranging deployment of the mechanisms of international law enforcement, The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to an exceptionally To be adopted as between them, with problematic significance. Like situations, both contemporary and previous, so as to enable varying approaches We might also say that it can enable efforts atįurthering erroneous distinctions to operate between particular situations and other The ‘crisis’ approach distracts attention from addressing structural, everyday One particular concern Hilary Charlesworth raised was the way in which The framework of crisis condemns international lawyers, as David Kennedy puts it, to ‘a sort of disciplinary hamster wheel’. Through regarding ‘crises’ as its bread and butter and the engine of progressive development of international law, international law becomes simply a source of justification for the status quo. She argued thatĪ concern with crises skews the discipline of international law. Nuanced critique of this crisis approach. Back then, Charlesworth offered a characteristically rich and Practices of virtue signalling and social media validation have, as withĮverything else, enabled this activity to be of an intensity and scale unimaginable Their hot takes, proclamations, and proposals. Situation - the Russian invasion of Ukraine - characterized as a ‘crisis’, and,Īgain, international lawyers have not been backwards in coming forwards with A crisis provides a focus for the development of the discipline and it also allows international lawyers the sense that their work is of immediate, intense relevance International lawyers revel in a good crisis. At that event, Professor, now Judge, HilaryĬharlesworth, characterized international law as a ‘discipline of crisis’ in a Over two decades ago, in 2000, a conference was held in London,Įntitled ‘international law and the Kosovo crisis’, concerning the NATO bombing
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