Giving Covenants Swords - The UN Security Council’s Competence to Enforce Provisional Measures of the ICJ

Giving Covenants Swords - The UN Security Council’s Competence to Enforce Provisional Measures of the ICJ Gureghian Hall, Mischa Author aut Text xx# 2024 Verfassungsblog 2024-07-10 eng The classical Hobbesian critique of international law famously asserts that “covenants, without the sword, are but words.” Accordingly, given Israel’s persistent non-compliance with the ICJ’s provisional measures in South Africa v. Israel, on 29 May 2024, South Africa requested “the Security Council to give effect to the Court’s judgments” under Article 41 of the ICJ Statute. This post shows why the discussions on whether the Council lacks the statutory authority to supervise and enforce the Court’s provisional measures under the ICJ Statute overlook the broader point. Namely, the Order on provisional measures is the perfect legal evidence for the Council to trigger its powers under Chapter VII and thus end the humanitarian calamity in Gaza. CC BY-SA 4.0 Gureghian Hall, Mischa Article 41 of the ICJ Statute Chapter VII ICJ Israel Israel Provisional Measures South Africa v. Israel Statute of the International Court of Justice | Vereinte Nationen Israel Statute of the International Court of Justice | Vereinte Nationen 342 https://verfassungsblog.de/giving-covenants-swords/ Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH 10.59704/c2c8b7ae9c5d5fe5 240710 10.59704/c2c8b7ae9c5d5fe5 Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.7 using MARC21slim2MODS3-7.xsl (Revision 1.140 20200717)