United Nations peacekeepers currently play a crucial role in international responses to threats to peace and security across the globe. Since 1948 the UN has been involved in over 60 peacekeeping operations. However in the current environment of complex and rapidly changing threats to peace, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of UN peacekeepers to deal with situations of instability. In 2009 alone over 100,000 individuals are deployed on such missions. This situation has resulted in a range of new and pressing challenges to the legal framework applicable during such collective international action. This book provides, for the first time, a comprehensive account of the legal framework regulating this area of collective international action. The book contains key documents in the areas of privileges and immunities, human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. Types of documents featured include foundational treaties, international rules and regulations, memoranda, judgments of the International Court of Justice, and some mission specific documents. Before each document a prefatory note is included, outlining the historical development of the document as well as its relevance to UN peace operations. To further assist scholars and practitioners in their work, the work concludes with a guide on undertaking further legal research on the laws relevant to peace operations, a list of all UN peace operations and relevant enabling resolutions, and a suggested approach to interpreting Security Council mandates. From scholars and students to policy makers, representatives in the military, police and humanitarian organisations - this book will be an invaluable resource in the development of a better understanding of the legal framework surrounding the establishment, management, and conduct of peace operations that are mandated and controlled by the UN.

Since the first edition of this book was published in 2010, United Nations peace operations have evolved significantly. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, and South Sudan, UN peacekeepers are now engaged in building peace by fighting non-State armed actors, and must consider issues concerning the application of law and policy governing the use of armed force when protecting civilians. In addition, the UN and its peacekeepers are increasingly being held to higher standards of accountability to ensure that their engagement with local forces and populations meets normative requirements found in international humanitarian law and international human rights law. This extensively revised edition of Documents on the Law of UN Peace Operations addresses the key normative principles, rules, and standards that have been a part of this evolution. The book provides essential documents, accompanied with commentary, which identify and explain the legal framework or applicable legal norms involved in the planning, management and conduct of UN peace operations. Topics covered include obligations under international humanitarian law, human rights law, international criminal law, and privileges and immunities. Special attention is also paid to matters such as accountability, the rule of law, and the protection of civilians.

Private military and security companies (PMSCs) have been used in every peace operation since 1990, and reliance on them is increasing at a time when peace operations themselves are becoming ever more complex. This book provides an essential foundation for the emerging debate on the use of PMSCs in this context. It clarifies key issues such as whether their use complies with the principles of peacekeeping, outlines the implications of the status of private contractors as non-combatants under international humanitarian law, and identifies potential problems in holding states and international organizations responsible for their unlawful acts. Written as a clarion call for greater transparency, this book aims to inform the discussion to ensure that international lawyers and policy makers ask the right questions and take the necessary steps so that states and international organizations respect the law when endeavouring to keep peace in an increasingly privatized world.

International Peacekeeping is devoted to reporting upon and analyzing international peacekeeping with an emphasis upon legal and policy issues, but is not limited to these issues. It is recognized that in today's world there is a wealth of information available from the internet and through other sources. It is therefore the goal of this Yearbook to make this information available in one publication which both organizes and records events over the course of a year through analytical articles, a chronicle, primary documents, and a bibliography. Topics include inter alia peacekeeping, peace, war, conflict resolution, diplomacy, international law, international security, humanitarian relief, humanitarian law, and terrorism. The Yearbook is of scholarly quality but is not narrowly theoretical. It provides the interested public -- diplomats, civil servants, politicians, the military, academics, journalists, NGO employees, and serious citizens -- with a document of record, comment, and a starting point for further research on peacekeeping and related topics. This is achieved not only by the provision of 'basic documents' (on CD ROM), such as Security Council Resolutions and Reports of the UN Secretary- General, but also by expert commentaries on world events. Peacekeeping is treated in a pragmatic light, seen as a form of international military cooperation for the preservation or restoration of international peace and security. Attention is focused not only on UN peacekeeping operations, but other missions as well. This Yearbook is the continuation of the journal International Peacekeeping.

"In memory of Professor Thomas M. Franck"

In United Nations Peace Operations and Human Rights: Normativity and Compliance Sylvia Maus offers a comprehensive account of the human rights obligations of United Nations peace operations and the reasons for (non-)compliance by using an interdisciplinary approach.

International Peacekeeping is devoted to reporting upon and analyzing international peacekeeping with an emphasis upon legal and policy issues, but is not limited to these issues. It is recognized that in today's world there is a wealth of information available from the internet and through other sources. It is therefore the goal of this Yearbook to make this information available in one publication which both organizes and records events over the course of a year through analytical articles, a chronicle, primary documents, and a bibliography. Topics include inter alia peacekeeping, peace, war, conflict resolution, diplomacy, international law, international security, humanitarian relief, humanitarian law, and terrorism. The Yearbook is of scholarly quality but is not narrowly theoretical. It provides the interested public -- diplomats, civil servants, politicians, the military, academics, journalists, NGO employees, and serious citizens -- with a document of record, comment, and a starting point for further research on peacekeeping and related topics. This is achieved not only by the provision of 'basic documents' (on CD ROM), such as Security Council Resolutions and Reports of the UN Secretary- General, but also by expert commentaries on world events. Peacekeeping is treated in a pragmatic light, seen as a form of international military cooperation for the preservation or restoration of international peace and security. Attention is focused not only on UN peacekeeping operations, but other missions as well. This Yearbook is the continuation of the journal International Peacekeeping.