The Interpretation of UN Security Council Resolutions between Regional and General International Law: What Role for General Principles?

Abstract

This chapter will proceed as follows: It will first reflect on the way in which general principles are said to relate to the respective normative context. Turning to public international law, the chapter will focus on the prohibition of arbitrariness and its relation to more specific rules. It will illustrate by way of example how scholars stress either the separation or the interrelation between this general principle and other, more specific obligations. The chapter will then undertake a case-study and analyze the ‘law in action’ in one specific context, the interpretation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (unscrs). It will be demonstrated how the recourse to general principles helped the courts to interpret the applicable unscrs and the law governing the application and implementation of unscrs. A particular focus lies on the Al-Dulimi judgment of the European Court of Human Rights and the Al-Waheed judgment of the United Kingdom Supreme Court.

Keywords: General Principles, General Principles of International Law, Security Council Resolutions, Security Council, ECHR, Detention, Non-International Armed Conflict