ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the legality of the intervention in Cabo Delgado by the Southern African Development Community and the Rwandan Defence Forces. Although international law generally prohibits any military intervention in the territory of third states as a breach of article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations, there exist a number of exceptions. This chapter examines these exceptions, namely: the right to individual and collective self-defence embodied in article 51 and collective security enforcement measures under chapter VII. In addition to these two recognised exceptions, the chapter also considers the legality of the intervention in Cabo Delgado against other possible exceptions to the prohibition of the use of force. These include the exception of humanitarian intervention and that of intervention by invitation. The chapter therefore serves as a primer and explores the applicability of various legal bases for the interventions of SADC and Rwanda. It ultimately concludes that the most plausible legal basis for these interventions is simply that of the consent of the Mozambican government.
