The application and effectiveness of sanctions under international law

Abstract

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"There is no greater cause than to serve humanity through serving law."[1]The former Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, observed that the objective of sanctions is to "change in specific ways the behaviour of a government or regime and, in a conflict situation, to diminish the capacity of the protagonists to sustain a prolonged fight." [2] The use of sanctions in international law is a method which has been applied to deter countries from violating international norms therefore sanctions are used to enforce law. The use of military force between countries is no longer acceptable and threatens international peace. Sanctions are an important tool in promoting and maintaining international peace and security and there has been substantial progress in recent years in refining these coercive measures. Sanctions with regard to their usefulness have had damaging effects on nations, have been unsuccessful in their implementation and have had negative impacts on innocent civilians. This dissertation deals with the application and impact of sanctions in international law. It explores the authority of sanctions, effectiveness of sanctions and the humanitarian impact of sanctions on civilians and neighbouring countries. It also discusses the problem of how economic sanctions are to be implemented and eventually terminated, their success and failures and how sanctions can also backfire and make a regime more intractable