@article{ART001773322},
author={Kim Sung Won},
title={A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law},
journal={DONG-A LAW REVIEW},
issn={1225-3405},
year={2013},
number={59},
pages={361-386}
TY - JOUR
AU - Kim Sung Won
TI - A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law
JO - DONG-A LAW REVIEW
PY - 2013
VL - null
IS - 59
PB - The Institute for Legal Studies Dong-A University
SP - 361
EP - 386
SN - 1225-3405
AB - Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter sets out the rule prohibiting not just the use of force, but also the threat of force in international relations. This twin prohibition is understood as one of the main pillars of the international system, because it not only requires from states to abstain from the use of force but also to exercise self-restraint and abstain from anything provocative that could potentially degenerate into the use of force.
However, the threat of force, although equally important in terms of its normative status to the prohibition on the use of force, has attracted far less academic commentary to date. Put differently, little attention has been paid to the meaning and content of the notion of 'threat of force' or to the legal scope of its prohibition.
The lack of important cases of the ICJ might be nominated as one reason for this situation. Also, the indeterminacy in the identification of a threat of force affects the legal treatment of such threats, because facts feed into the legal assesment of threats of force is further complicated by rule indeterminacy, notwithstanding the ICJ's variant efforts to construct a minimalistic legal regime on the use of force. Also, theoretical debates on the interpretation of the threat of force exacerbate the uncertainty in the meaning of the threat of force.
However, there is a growing need for re-considering certain role of the threat of force in relevant situations. For instance, threats to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, defensive threats such as threats as actions in self-defence, institutional threats of force and unilateral threats in the enforcement of collective security obligations are suggested as a legally permissible and legitimate version of the threat of force in international law.
This article explores the possible legality of threat of force in certain conditions. First, this article addresses the historical effort of international society to outlaw the threat of force in international relations with reviewing the jurisprudence of the ICJ on the cases concerning the threat of force. Second, this article examines various theoretical approaches to the identification of the threat of force in international law. Lastly, this article suggests certain situations that make threat of force permissible under international law with focusing on the threat of force used for non-forcible self-defence.
KW - threat of force;use of force;defensive threats;enforcement of collective security;threat as an self-defence
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UR -
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Kim Sung Won. (2013). A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law. DONG-A LAW REVIEW, 59, 361-386.
Kim Sung Won. 2013, "A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law", DONG-A LAW REVIEW, no.59, pp.361-386.
Kim Sung Won "A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law" DONG-A LAW REVIEW 59 pp.361-386 (2013) : 361.
Kim Sung Won. A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law. 2013; 59 : 361-386.
Kim Sung Won. "A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law" DONG-A LAW REVIEW no.59(2013) : 361-386.
Kim Sung Won. A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law. DONG-A LAW REVIEW, 59, 361-386.
Kim Sung Won. A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law. DONG-A LAW REVIEW. 2013; 59 361-386.
Kim Sung Won. A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law. 2013; 59 : 361-386.
Kim Sung Won. "A Review on the Threat of Force in International Law" DONG-A LAW REVIEW no.59(2013) : 361-386.
