Difficulties of Defending International Humanitarian Law at the International Level

In an armed conflict the respect for international humanitarian law is the essential element to reduce its destructive effects. The application of international humanitarian law is, however, not always taken into account by states and members of the armed forces. When this obligation is seriously violated, the international community, through the UN, must intervene to restore international peace and security. Unfortunately, current armed conflicts have proven that this system is not effective, especially when it has to be activated against a permanent veto-wielding member of the Security Council, such as Russia. To make this system effective and to make such a state to apply correctly international humanitarian law, the UN must be reformed. But all these reform proposals do not take into account the efficiency of the measures in Chapter VII of the Charter and the strengthening of international authority.