ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the veto power of the permanent members of the UN Security Council from the vantage point of “sovereignty as responsibility”—particularly, whether vetoing permanent members are breaching their obligations under the doctrine of the responsibility to protect (“R2P”) when they cast a veto while there is ongoing genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or the serious risk of these crimes occurring, and the resolution in question would take action to prevent or stop the crimes. The chapter argues that the concept of “sovereignty as responsibility” and R2P have in no way permeated into Security Council practice. The chapter argues that it is time to “operationalize” at least the “hard” (i.e., binding) law that underlies R2P so that it is applied to the practice of the UN Security Council. The Security Council is simply not above the law, and neither the veto nor the threat to use the veto should be used to shield the perpetration of atrocity crimes.
