Contemporary international law contains quite adequate substantive rules aimed at the prevention and suppression of State acts of aggression but the efficiency of those provisions is weakened by procedural shortcomings inherent, in particular, in the operation of the UN Security Council. Until a comprehensive reform of the United Nations eliminates those procedural deficiencies, the General Assembly and the International Court of Justice should be more active in maintaining international peace and security, and in reacting to threats to the peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression. An important role in the maintenance of international peace and security is played by regional security organisations, as well as by international organs and institutions monitoring compliance,in particular, with international human rights law, international humanitarian law, the law of the sea, and environmental law. By contrast, despite the formal activation of the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction with respect to the crime of aggression as of 17 July 2018, the Court is unlikely to prosecute individuals for the crime of aggression, and domestic prosecutions or, potentially, prosecutions by the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights are more likely.

The author concludes that international law on the use of force requires strengthening. The effectiveness of the UN collective security system, based on the leading role of the Security Council, is limited, although the Council should be commended for preventing World War III. After a stage of relatively fruitful cooperation between the members of the Security Council (1990–2003), disagreements arose again, especially with regard to Syria and Ukraine. Therefore, the role of other major UN bodies – in particular the General Assembly and the International Court of Justice - in responding to the illegal international use of force must increase. It is hoped that the promising reform of the UN will create a more functional system of global collective security.

Bibliography

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1. Gray C, International Law and the Use of Force (3rd edn, Oxford University Press 2008) (in English). 2. Ipsen I, Völkerrecht (6th edn, C. H. Beck 2014) (in German).

3. Sayapin S, The Crime of Aggression in International Criminal Law: Historical Development, Comparative Analysis and Present State (T.M.C. Asser Press 2014) (in English).

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Edited books

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17. Sayapin S, ‘The Compatibility of the Rome Statute’s Draft Definition of the Crime of Aggression with National Criminal Justice Systems’ (2010) 81 Revue internationale de droit pénal (in English).

18. Sayapin S, ‘The International Committee of the Red Cross and International Human Rights Law’ (2009) 9 Human Rights Law Review (in English).

19. Sayapin S, ‘The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262 in the Context of General International Law’ (2015) 2 Evropsky politicky a pravni diskurz (in English).

20. Sayapin S, ‘The Yanukovych Trial in Ukraine: A Revival of the Crime of Aggression?’ (2020) 50 Israel Yearbook on Human Rights (in English).

Websites

21. ‘Declarations recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory’ (International Court of Justice) <https://www.icj-cij.org/en/declarations> (accessed: 08.12.2020) (in English). 22. ‘Emergency special sessions’ (General Assembly of the United Nations) <https://www. un.org/en/ga/sessions/emergency.shtml> (accessed: 08.12.2020) (in English).

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26. Sayapin S, ‘The End of Russia’s Hybrid War against Ukraine?’ (Opinio Juris, 04.01.2019) <http://opiniojuris.org/2019/01/04/the-end-of-russias-hybrid-war-against-ukraine/> (accessed: 08.12.2020) (in English).

27. Schatz V, ‘Insights from the Bifurcation Order in the Ukraine vs. Russia Arbitration under Annex VII of UNCLOS’ (EJIL:Talk!, 06.09.2018) <https://www.ejiltalk.org/ insights-from-the-bifurcation-order-in-the-ukraine-vs-russia-arbitration-under-annexviiof-unclos/> (accessed: 08.12.2020) (in English).