Zyberi, Gentian --- "The role and contribution of international courts in furthering peace as an essential community interest" [2019] ELECD 945; in Bailliet, M. Cecilia (ed), "Research Handbook on International Law and Peace" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 424

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Law and Peace

Editor(s): Bailliet, M. Cecilia

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 19

Section Title: The role and contribution of international courts in furthering peace as an essential community interest

Author(s): Zyberi, Gentian

Number of pages: 25

Abstract/Description:

This chapter discusses the role and impact of international courts and tribunals in the promotion of peace. The author argues that maintenance and restoration of peace is an essential community interest, clearly embedded in both treaty and customary international law and pursued through different institutional mechanisms and procedures, including international courts and tribunals. Courts can play an important role in efforts aimed at maintaining or restoring interstate or intrastate peace, alongside existing non-judicial means and methods of settling disputes that could endanger international peace and security. By settling interstate disputes, advising international organizations, or investigating and prosecuting those most responsible for having committed mass atrocity crimes, these courts and tribunals can potentially create the necessary conditions for the normalization of relations between states or between affected parts of a society in a post-conflict situation. The chapter discusses the role and contribution of principal international courts and tribunals, which through their case law have developed and interpreted important aspects of the scope of relevant legal obligations incumbent upon states, international organizations, and individuals. Despite their potential and eventual contribution, past and recent history shows that the role of courts in maintaining or restoring peace remains limited.