Symposium

• Sponeck, H. C. Graf

Abstract

International sanction laws are necessary to provide guidance for coercive actions of a non‐military nature directed at governments or groups whose conduct is considered a threat to international security. Humanitarian exemptions must be an inherent part of such laws so as to protect the innocent from repercussions of sanctions inconsistent with the International Bill of Human Rights and other humanitarian law. This article, using sanctions against Iraq as an example, questions the adequacy of the existing legal and procedural framework in ensuring such protection. It points to the intangibility of the relevant body of law as well as its jurisdictional limitations. The absence of laws of precedent and defined standards has facilitated arbitrary application. Imprecisely formulated United Nations resolutions and the lack of ongoing monitoring of the impact of sanctions on the human condition have further encouraged a subjective and punishment‐oriented approach. Taking into account the articles by Craven and O'Connell in this symposium, this commentary outlines safeguards which must be built into sanction regimes in order to ensure that international law is applied for the protection of the civilian population while coercive action is taken to force perpetrators to comply with international norms of behaviour.