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International Law and the Will of the People in Post-Conflict Rebuilding

Saul, M.W.

Authors

M.W. Saul



Abstract

To date, in spite of being included in calls for a jus post bellum, little attention has been given to the rationale, scope, or the form that new international legal regulation of post-conflict rebuilding would take. To encourage and structure debate about the type of new law that would be appropriate, and provide a platform for calling on states to create new law, this paper focuses on what the existing international legal framework requires in terms of a connection between the post-conflict reconstruction process and the will of the people of the host state. This is first considered in terms of the initiation of the involvement of international actors, which is dependent on the availability of international legal justification, and secondly in relation to the decision making on change and development of state and civil infrastructure, for which international human rights law is relevant. A central argument is that the ready availability of international legal justification is vital for the occurrence of international involvement, and this counsels against, in particular, modification of the rules on state consent. But the paper also illustrates a case for more stringent international legal regulation of governance by domestic actors that are dependent on international actors for control of the territory.

Citation

Saul, M. (2010). International Law and the Will of the People in Post-Conflict Rebuilding. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Special Edition, 167-198

Journal Article Type Conference Paper
Conference Name The future of statebuilding : ethics, power and responsibility in international relations.
Conference Location University of Westminster, London
Publication Date Jan 1, 2010
Deposit Date Oct 25, 2010
Journal Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding
Print ISSN 1750-2977
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume Special Edition
Pages 167-198
Publisher URL http://www.westminster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/81594/Saul.pdf
Additional Information Forthcoming in the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding (Special Online Edition). Conference date: 9-10 October 2009