Where is R2P grounded in international law? Anne-Marie Judson A ...

CONCLUSION
At first glance R2P appeared to be the declaration that the world had been waiting
for. It gave hope to political activists, politicians and academics alike and yet this
research has shown that R2P is deficient in adding any new aspects to international
law.
Chapter 1 showed that all states were bound to international law and other states
through their commitment to the United Nations. The Charter provided us with the
grounding for the rules on threats to the peace and the use of aggression. The Charter
gave precedence to international law and justice as supreme tenets and each member
agreed to act in accordance with these rules. In 2005 each member declared that
certain rules in international law were jus cogens. They asserted that certain customary
international rules including war crimes and genocide were prohibited in international
law. They agreed that these rules were customary. They declared that they were
prepared to take collective action in accordance with Charter (1945) chapters VI and
VIII in accordance with the Security Council reinforcing once again their duties
already inherent in international law to supply the Security Council in a timely
manner with the means necessary to maintain international peace and security. This
showed that R2P did not add anything new to the maintenance of international peace
and security. It did not give rights to states to intervene in any situation that involved
war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing. R2P reinforced
the duties that were already inherent in international law.
The historical perspective showed that the responsibilities of states were grounded in
the discussions of the United Nations and the International Law Commission’s
proposals on state responsibility. It also showed that the duties and responsibilities of
states were deeply rooted in both philosophy and jurisprudence of international law,
reaching back into the 1700s and beyond showing us that R2P is neither a new idea
nor a new concept and it has developed over centuries not over a few years. This was
further emphasized by the Draft declaration on the Rights and Duties of States (1949)
whereby the principles entailed reference to refraining from the use of force against
the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Article 14 also
reinforced these duties by declaring that every state has the duty to conduct its
relations with other states in accordance with international law and with the principle
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