International law at critical juncture, political will needed to protect world order – IBA Executive Director
International law is at a key moment of collision with a critical time: while the legal framework of the international order is sufficient, the political will to protect the global order is being lost, international law expert and International Bar Association (IBA) Executive Director Mark Ellis says.
"I would say that the international community needs justice and the accountability of criminals… Russia is trying to destroy this world legal order. Therefore, the consequences of this war are important not only for Ukraine, but for the entire world community, for the world legal order that has existed for all these 80 years," Ellis said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He emphasized that if Russia succeeds in the war in Ukraine, it would mean the destruction of the legal world order.
Clarifying his view on the current state of international law, Ellis noted: "I think it is at a key moment of collision with a critical time. And this is not because there is a lack of a legal framework for the international order, but because we are losing the political will to preserve this world order."
Speaking about values as the basis of the international order, the IBA Executive Director noted: "It is currently difficult to look at the world without accepting the idea that it is moving toward the ‘right of might.’ States that transition from the ‘might of law’ to the ‘right of might’ undermine the foundations of the world order."
In the expert’s opinion, wars have mostly begun because international law standards were ignored. "And this is exactly what leads to the concept of the right of might," he added.
"If every country simply followed Article 2 of the UN Charter, which prohibits the threat and use of force against the territorial sovereignty and independence of countries – how many conflicts would not even have started!" Ellis explained.
Responding to whether the problem lies in a lack of political will or a certain fear, the IBA Executive Director said: "I don’t know if it’s about fear; countries simply say: we allow you to follow your interests, and we will be guided by our own interests, ignoring what international law tells us. That is, we can speak of a kind of national egoism."
"This is exactly why we have come to this point of reflection. The international community must stand up and say: such an approach is not acceptable in the context of international law; we must be sure that Russia does not succeed in the war against Ukraine," Ellis summarized.