International law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International law - Essay Example The most disputed and highly controversial examples are the Kosovo crisis, Afghanistan invasion, and the Iraq invasion. The Kosovo and Afghan Crisis The first incident that gave the idea of certain nations’ deviating from the international norms came during the Kosovo crisis. On the insistence of America, NATO undertook a bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). The action was undertaken for the claimed purpose of implementing the UN Security Council resolution but without the Security Council’s authorisation. It was claimed to be an attempt to stop human rights violations in Yugoslavia/Serbia. The unrest in Yugoslavia was the result of the Kosovars’ effort to gain independence. However, Serbia has strong emotional attachment with Kosovo as the place of the 14th century defeat by Turks. As a result, there arose reports of mass human rights violations in Kosovo as FRY president forced ethnic Albanians to leave Kosovo. Soon, there was a ne gotiation between FRY and Kosovo Liberation Army. However, the negotiation failed to reach a solution. As a result, the US forced the NATO to start air strike on FRY. Thus, the ‘Operation Allied Force’ by NATO started attack on FRY on 24 March, 1999. Up to this point everything seemed normal. However, the attack was begun without taking the matter to the United Nations Security Council as stipulated under Chapter VII of the UN Chapter (Charter of the United Nations). The strike continued for two and a half months. In the attack, as Charlesworth (2002) reports, 500 civilians were killed, including both Serbians and Kosovars; in addition, there were 6000 casualties. Later on, the attack ended with the agreement reached between FRY, Serbia, and NATO. Thus, the UN Interim Administrative Mission took charge of Kosovo (ibid). However, this aroused significant levels of controversy in the international sphere as there was blatant violation of the norms of the UN Security Counc il stipulation that any regional action only be undertaken with the permission and authorisation of the Security Council. However, this was not the only issue that arose along with the attack. Another question that came up was if it is justifiable to violate UN charter in pursuit of human rights. Also, if the violation is justified, the question arises as to what is the limit of force that can be used. Another considerable doubt casted on the sincerity of US and NATO was that if the intention of NATO was to reinstate human rights in Kosovo instantly, air strike from a height of 20,000 feet was the worst method to adopt as it naturally leads to less accuracy and more civilian deaths. In addition, the campaign could not replace President Milosevic, nor could it control the mass departure of Kosovars. Whatever the reasons of the attack may be, it helped unravel the weaknesses of international law and the institutions that are meant to impose them. One can see innumerous number of works on the Kosovo issue, and the opinions of scholars vary greatly. According to one class of thought, as cited by Charlesworth (2002), the incident calls for a principle of humanitarian intervention. This was the opinion expressed by US President Bill Clinton

Criminal Justice in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Criminal Justice in the US - Essay Example Legal scholars, as well as criminologists in other developed nations, state that they are puzzled and shocked by the length and number of American prison terms. The U.S. has, for example, 2 million lawbreakers in prisons, more than any other country. This is in line with the information given out at King's College in England by the International Center for Prison Research. China follows with 1.6 million individuals in prison, but the country is four times more populous than America. That figure leaves out thousands of individuals held in administrative custody (Liptak, 2008). Most of these individuals are held up in China's extrajudicial scheme of re-education by labor. The system also isolates political activists who have not committed any offense. San Marino is at the ending of the lengthy list of 218 nations gathered by the center. The country has a population of about 30,000 people. San Marino, however, has only one inmate. The U.S. leads in the list of prison studies center. The country is ranked first in order of the imprisonment rates. America has 700 individuals in jail or prison for every 100,000 in population. If people count only grownups, then the finding would be that one in every 100 American citizens is in prison (Liptak, 2008). The only other key developed country that even comes close to America is Russia. Russia has 627 inmates for every 100,000 individuals. The other countries have much lower rates. Germany's is 70, England's rate is 140 and Japan's is 50. These rates are all out of 100,000. The median among all countries circulates at 125. 125 is roughly a fifth of the American rate. There is little inquiry that the high imprisonment rate in America has assisted to cut down crime. There is, however, the debate regarding how much the rates have eased crime. Legal experts and criminologists abroad and in the country point out certain factors to explain America's astonishing imprisonment rate. These factors are harsh sentencing regulations, hig h levels of brutal crimes, a special fervor in fighting illegal drugs, a heritage of racial disorders and the lack of a social safety net.