War Crimes in Yugoslavia and the Development of International Law

Abstract

As the United Nations system approaches its fiftieth anniversary, there is good reason to take a fresh view of its contribution to legal order in the contemporary world. That contribution has rarely been assessed in its full generality. A half century of law creation and application by the United Nations and its specialized agencies has produced a corpus juris of impressive breadth and diversity. Not surprisingly, the greater part of this law is known only to those specially concerned with a particular area or subject. Indeed, no one can be expected to be knowledgeable in all, or even most, of the fields covered. Still, along with the diversity, common elements can be found to enable us to characterize the total product as a distinctive, multilayered legal order. This essay is an overview of its essential and interesting features. It aims particularly at informing the many nonspecialists in and outside the internationalaw community who have reason to be interested in the process and substance of the legal contribution of the UN system.1 The present essay is divided into four sections: I. Lawmaking in the UN System II. Interpreting and Applying Law III. Compliance and Enforcement IV. Patterns and Politics