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- Title
The 'Curiouser and Curiouser' Legal Nature of Non-UN Sanctions: The Case of the US Sanctions against Russia.
- Authors
Hofer, Alexandra
- Abstract
This article presents the legal conundrums arising from non-United Nations (UN) sanctions adopted by States as a means to enforce international law. Though the international legal system has developed various categories of self-help measures--from forcible acts of self-defence to non-forcible acts of retorsion or countermeasures--applying these labels to State practice can be challenging. These complexities are perceptible in the US sanctions adopted against Russia for its alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis. Assessing the legality of the US sanctions leads to questions regarding the nature of Russia's actions in Ukraine, the purpose of the sanctions, who is targeted and why, the US standing to respond to Russia's policies in Ukraine, etc. This article provides tentative answers but ultimately points to the gray areas governing non-forcible measures. It follows that, despite appearances, the legal framework governing non-UN sanctions is messy in practice and leads to more open-ended questions than reassuring answers. The difficulty in applying seemingly clear-cut legal rules to unilateral sanctions is perhaps due to the fact that States principally conceive of sanctions as policy tools and do not necessarily adopt unilateral acts to enforce legal obligations. Consequently, if international law wants to have an impact on State practice and provide for effective enforcement it is necessary to bridge the gap between legal theory and political practice.
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL law; RUSSIA-Ukraine Conflict, 2014-; UNITED Nations. International Law Commission; UNITED Nations. Charter; WORLD Trade Organization; HUMAN rights violations; GENERAL Agreement on Trade in Services (Organization)
- Publication
Journal of Conflict & Security Law, 2018, Vol 23, Issue 1, p75
- ISSN
1467-7954
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/jcsl/kry006