ABSTRACT
A central theme to emerge from this volume is how the UN Security Council’s decision-making process shapes, and in turn is shaped by, the idea of the rule of law (ROL). As all chapters demonstrate in one way or another, the Council’s engagements with the ROL tend to unfold on two separate but connected fronts. First, there is the external front, where the UNSC acts as promoter, enforcer or protector of the ROL. As Terence Halliday insightfully observed at one of the workshops from which this book evolved, when engaging with the ROL in this way the UNSC strengthens the ROL ‘on the offence’, thus playing the role of regulator of the ROL. The key question on the external front is how UNSC-authorised activities in the areas of peacekeeping, sanctions and force might better promote the ROL. Second, there is the internal front, where the UNSC acts as subject of the ROL. When engaging with the ROL in this way, the UNSC strengthens the ROL ‘on the defence’, thus playing the role of subject or regulatee of the ROL. The key question on the internal front is how the ROL as an important principle of governance might be better respected in the UNSC’s decision-making processes that lead to the authorisation of peacekeeping, sanctions and force.
