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

INTRODUCTION – Treaties are not empty gestures states have obligations in international law.
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH FINDINGS
The principal findings of this research show that states are subject to international
customary law. They are dependent on their bilateral and multilateral relationships in
contract and their sovereignty is subject to their compliance with international law.
State legitimacy is found to be dependent on state actions, which include its
responsibility to prevent and to protect its citizens from harm.
Treaties are not empty gestures: they are agreements that bind the state to duties,
obligations and responsibilities in international law. States are restrained in their
affairs and their objectives by their obligations to protect and prevent breaches and
violations. These obligations include implementing the treaties, statutes and
conventions they are a party to, into their local jurisdiction, local education and
military programmes. These agreements that they choose to make, contain prevention
applications and they include obligatory non-discrimination rights. The practices that
the state must not engage in include genocide and war crimes, Crimes against
humanity are non-derogatory as they amount to breaches of international peace and
security. The Security Council can implement resolutions to enforce compliance with
these international laws and norms to intervene in a state where rights are being
abused and international law is being violated.
These rules of law have not changed. The responsibilities of states are not new ideas
or practices but are firmly grounded in international law, both in application and in
principle. This research helps to clarify that states have responsibilities in international
law to refrain from committing atrocities. These obligations extend to supplying the
Security Council with the means necessary to conduct and complete the application to
restrain a state in violation of their duties. These are not just responsibilities: the state
is bound to act in a manner consistent with international law as a party to the United
Nations Charter and the Statute of the International Court of Justice (1945). These
obligations are well documented and the Security Council has shown its willingness to
follow through, to prevent abuse and protect these duties in international law. This
research shows how the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine adds nothing new to
these duties and obligations. It provides a declaration to remind states of these duties.
R2P cannot enforce these duties because it is not international law in its own right, It
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