THE ROLE OF THE UN IN THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE

SPRING MEETING
OF THE ROYAL NETHERLANDS SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

THE ROLE OF THE UN IN THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE: ATTEMPTS TO BYPASS THE UN CHARTER IN THE SPIRIT OF THE CHARTER ITSELF?

7 JUNE 2023 19.00 – 21.00
LEIDEN UNIVERSITY, CAMPUS THE HAGUE AND ONLINE

While the UN provides refugee protection and humanitarian aid in Ukraine and is actively involved in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, its role in the domain of peace and security is limited: examples include speeches by the UN Secretary-General and the February 2023 General Assembly resolution demanding that the Russian Federation withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory, in line with the UN Charter.

However, GA resolutions lack ‘bite’. The impossibility for the Security Council to act in this conflict has, again, raised the question as to what role the GA and other UN organs can still play. Various initiatives have been taken, such as the GA’s emergency special session and the adoption of GA Res. 76/262 (‘Standing mandate for a GA debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council’). Are these examples of ‘bypassing the UN Charter in the spirit of the Charter itself’, knowing that formal changes of the Charter are not a realistic perspective? Or does the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the use of its veto in the Security Council bring new stimuli to the long-standing negotiations about Security Council Reform?

Dr. Alanna O’Malley, Associate Professor at the Leiden University Institute for History, and
Prof. Niels Blokker, Professor of International Institutional Law at Leiden University,
will provide a presentation. This will be followed by a Q&A.

Date and time: Wednesday 7 June 2023, from 19.00-21.00

Location: Leiden University, Campus The Hague, Turfmarkt 99, 2511 DP The Hague, or online via Zoom

Registration: Please send an email to gro.r1736993452ivnk@1736993452tcatn1736993452oc1736993452 by 2 June 2023 indicating whether you would like to attend the meeting in person or online via Zoom.

For questions, please contact the Secretary via gro.r1736993452ivnk@1736993452draob1736993452.