Democracy as an International Obligation of States and Right of the People

There is a clear development towards the acknowledgement of democracy as a universal concern. States and international organisations openly support democracy and condemn setbacks in democratisation and consolidation of democracy. But how far does this development go? The author sheds light on the question of an international obligation of states to promote and protect democratic structures as well as a corresponding right of the people. Coming to the conclusion that such norms exist in certain regions and are emerging universally, the author further analyses whether this challenges existing rules of international law, namely the prohibition of the use of force and intervention. Lastly, it is dealt with the question of whether and how such a norm could be enforced under existing mechanisms. Cover......Page 1 Table of contents......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 16 I. Filling the term with life......Page 24 II. An obligation of states......Page 28 III. A right of peoples and individuals......Page 29 IV. Mode of inquiry......Page 30 B. Democracy as a legal norm in international law......Page 32 I. Is there an international obligation of states to become and remain democratic?......Page 33 1. International conventions......Page 34 aa. The Charter of the United Nations......Page 38 bb. Human rights treaties......Page 39 cc. Other conventions......Page 43 aa. Europe......Page 44 bb. The Americas......Page 47 cc. Africa and the Arab region......Page 51 c. Conclusion on international conventions......Page 56 2. Customary international law......Page 57 a. Frequent resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly......Page 59 b. Other soft law documents......Page 65 c. Pro-democratic interventions......Page 72 aa. The intervention in the Dominican Republic in 1965......Page 73 bb. The Grenada intervention in 1983......Page 75 cc. The Panama intervention in 1989......Page 78 dd. The Iraq intervention in 2003......Page 82 ee. Interventions authorised by the United Nations Security Council: Haiti, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Libya and Mali......Page 84 ff. Conclusion on the pro-democratic intervention......Page 91 aa. Global organisations......Page 94 bb. European organisations......Page 96 cc. American organisations......Page 98 dd. African organisations......Page 99 ff. Conclusion on the practice of international organisations......Page 100 e. Democracy clauses in partnership and assistance agreements......Page 101 aa. Global institutions......Page 102 bb. The European Union......Page 104 dd. Conclusion on the practice of democracy clauses......Page 108 aa. Recognition of states......Page 109 bb. Recognition of governments......Page 112 g. Post-conflict state and nation building......Page 117 h. The practice of regional treaty obligations to democracy......Page 121 i. Conclusion on international custom......Page 122 3. Conclusion concerning an international obligation to democracy......Page 123 II. Is there an international right to democracy?......Page 124 1. International conventions......Page 125 a. The Charter of the United Nations......Page 126 b. Global human rights treaties......Page 130 aa. Europe......Page 139 bb. The Americas......Page 141 cc. Africa......Page 143 d. The Charter of the Commonwealth......Page 145 2. Customary international law......Page 146 a. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other soft law documents......Page 147 b. Pro-democratic interventions......Page 155 c. Electoral assistance......Page 156 d. Post-conflict state and nation building......Page 162 e. Conclusion on international custom......Page 164 3. Conclusion concerning an international right to democracy......Page 165 III. Conclusion concerning international law on democracy......Page 167 C. The international state obligation and people’s right to democracy and existing norms of international law......Page 170 I. Democracy and the prohibition of the use of force......Page 171 1. The prohibition of the use of force under the Charter of the United Nations and customary international law......Page 172 a. Is a non-democratic state protected by the prohibition of the use of force?......Page 173 b. Is an armed invasion in order to (re)establish democracy a use of force against the territorial integrity of a state?......Page 176 c. Is an armed invasion in order to (re)establish democracy a use of force against the political independence of a state?......Page 178 a. Authorisation by the United Nations Security Council......Page 181 aaa. The Kantian theory of democratic peace......Page 182 bbb. The case of Afghanistan......Page 184 ccc. The case of Libya......Page 185 ddd. Conclusion......Page 187 aaa. The case of Haiti......Page 188 bbb. The case of Sierra Leone......Page 190 ccc. The case of Mali......Page 191 ddd. Conclusion......Page 193 cc. The practice of the United Nations Security Council......Page 194 b. The inherent right of individual or collective self-defence......Page 195 3. Customary justifications of the use of force......Page 196 a. The doctrine of humanitarian intervention......Page 197 b. The doctrine of pro-democratic intervention......Page 204 4. Conclusion on the use of force in the name of democracy......Page 207 II. Democracy and the prohibition of intervention......Page 208 1. The scope of protection......Page 209 2. Foreign intervention for reasons of democracy......Page 213 3. Justification of the intervention......Page 219 a. Responsibility for an internationally wrongful act......Page 220 b. Injury of the intervening state and exceptions to that requirement......Page 221 4. Conclusion on interventions in the name of democracy......Page 225 1. The International Court of Justice......Page 226 2. The Human Rights Council......Page 229 3. The Human Rights Committee......Page 230 a. The European Court of Human Rights......Page 232 b. Inter-American judicial bodies......Page 234 c. African review mechanisms......Page 236 5. Conclusion on the international enforcement mechanisms......Page 238 D. Concluding remarks......Page 240 References......Page 242 Table of Judicial Decisions......Page 260 Table of International Documents......Page 268 The author analyses sources of international law with regard to the existence or emergence of an international obligation of states to promote and protect national democratic structures and a corresponding right of the people. She further investigates whether such norms challenge existing rules of international law. Introduction : democracy in international law -- Democracy as a legal norm in international law -- The international state obligation and people's right to democracy and existing norms of international law -- Concluding remarks