Responsibility of the United Nations for peacekeeping operations: recent developments in dual attribution
Responsibility of the United Nations for peacekeeping operations: recent developments in dual attribution

Summary/Abstract: This article critically examines the existing practice on the topic of responsibility for the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. Peacekeeping is a tool that has encountered many changes during the past few decades. It has developed into an instrument that can be authorized to use force beyond self-defense in a high-risk environment with limited consent by the Host State. This increased authorization to use force has also brought about an increased risk for potential wrongdoings by peacekeepers and has highlighted the issue of UN responsibility. It has long been the practice of the Organization to assume exclusive responsibility for peacekeeping operations. Yet, due to its broad immunities and other jurisdictional issues, this largely remains a theoretical concept. As a way around this stand-still, cases have been filed at national courts of troop-contributing States. In the recent judgment of Mothers of Srebrenica, the Supreme Court of The Netherlands had issued a ruling in which The Netherlands was found partially responsible for their actions. This brings to question the fairness of the current situation in which only one actor out of the two involved on a peacekeeping mission accepts its share of responsibility.

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