Stockholm Center for International Law and Justice has the honour of welcoming you to a lecture by

Katinka Svanberg

on the topic of

Should There be a Responsibility Not to Veto in the UN Security Council in Cases of Grave Atrocities Committed Against Populations?

The project aims to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on reform proposals concerning the structure and mandate of the UN Security Council (SC) to ensure that it responds to situations of large-scale human suffering when it acts in its enforcement capacity under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The research thesis is that the veto in its present form is an outdated formula that needs to adjust to current developments in international law such as the Responsibility to Protect doctrine (R2P). The project’s focus is on identifying how the veto powers given to its five permanent members (P5), i.e. the US, UK, France, Russia and China, in Article 27(3) of the UN Charter may be reformed, or to propose alternative approaches that would guarantee that the UN can respond as forcefully as needed when grave atrocities are committed against populations.

Katinka Svanberg is a Senior Lecturer in Public International Law at Stockholm University Law School. Her doctoral dissertation concerned “The UN Security Council in the Service of Law – a Study of Security Council Interventions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter for the Right to Democracy”, Jure 2014. She has also edited “Peace and Security –Current Challenges in International Law” with Amnéus, Studentlitteratur, 2004. In it the principle of internal self-determination and its development to encompass the right to democracy are taken to test the hypothesis that the SC uses its mandatory powers under Chapter VII to promote and shape fundamental norms in international law. SC enforcement powers under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and how interventions by the SC can contribute to enforcement and creation of norms in international law.

Registration (voluntary): scilj@juridicum.su.se, by 23 of May