The Authority of the Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter: Legal Limits and the Role of the International Court of Justice

This volume discusses the legal limits to the authority of the Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The interest in this topic regained importance when the Security Council started to play an increasingly active role after a period of dormancy between 1945 and 1990. The work describes various approaches to Charter interpretation, provides an overview of the Council’s powers under the Charter and surveys the Council’s practice with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security. Subsequently the sources and contents of the limits to the Council’s authority are analyzed. This is followed by an analysis of the role of the International Court of Justice, which includes an overview of the main obstacles to, and possibilities of, judicial review by the Court of Council decisions taken under Chapter VII. Finally, the work discusses proposals to enhance the Council’s legitimacy.