Article by: John Cowan

Remember Russia’s flagrant veto in the UN Security Council after its invasions of Ukraine, or the USA’s vetoes regarding Israel’s treatment of Palestinians? Those vetoes frustrated the international community’s desire for peace and the enforcement of international law. Now with Donald Trump threatening many countries and ignoring treaties, Canada needs to step up to defend international law. It's time to call out vetoes in the UN Security Council.

Illegal UN Security Council Vetoes

The UN Charter is foundational to international law. Many experts agree that it is unlawful for a UN Security Council member to veto a resolution aimed at averting or ending an act of aggression or an atrocity crime (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes).

The UN Charter grants World War II’s major victors (undemocratic) power to veto otherwise agreed collective actions to enforce international law. Yet the Security Council’s mandate is to “maintain international peace and security.” Therefore, any veto of a resolution to avert or end aggression or atrocities actually enables the misbehaviour, rather than ends it. In such situations the veto is contrary to the main Purpose of the entire UN and specifically the Security Council, so it should not be allowed. Though the UN provides many useful services, the entire organization is discredited when a veto blocks the Security Council from fulfilling its primary purpose of maintaining the peace.

So what will happen the next time a veto-wielding country threatens invasion or is suspected of genocide? Will Canada stand by and wring its hands? Or will Canada stand up for international law? What if Canada were to be threatened with aggression – how would Canadians feel about a veto blocking a UN corrective action on our behalf? A UN that is ineffective in maintaining the peace is in nobody’s interest. Consider how citizens of many countries feel as their peace is not assured by the UN – they have to build up their own defensive capabilities. Isn’t that why we have the “race to the bottom” to shame countries into spending more on defence?

To understand a path forward we need to understand how we got to this place. At the time of drafting the UN Charter in 1945 many of the lesser powers, including Canada, were concerned that the veto could easily be misused. However USA, UK, USSR and China, the four superpowers (France joined later), assured the other states that the veto would not be “misused,” consistent with their duty to “act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations.” Unfortunately, these same 5 countries have broken their promise and misused their veto power on many occasions to prevent their own or their allies’ accountability in the global game of chess being played by the superpowers. Such vetoes not only extend the misery of millions of people, they also bring disrepute onto the entire institution of the UN and international law in general.

Canada’s UN Ambassador, Bob Rae has several times spoken clearly at the UN about the veto problem, declaring “No one is above the law. The law is above us all.”

The Fix

Canada can restore its international image as a peace-maker by challenging the Security Council’s habit of permitting illegal vetoes in the face of aggression or atrocity crimes. It could do so without directly challenging any particular recent veto.

It is certainly time for Security Council reform, possibly eliminating the veto. However changing the UN Charter is complex, and unfortunately the UN recently decided not to update the Charter (even though it was supposed to have first happened 70 years ago). So, as a transitional step before Charter reform, Canada should seek an immediate advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that clarifies the existing limits on the veto power. With such clarity, 9 of the 15 Security Council member states could deny the use of the veto in selected cases.

Recently, the World Federalist Movement of Canada pressed Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on this matter. It asked Canada to assemble a coalition of like-minded states to support a resolution in the UN General Assembly seeking an advisory opinion from the ICJ on the illegality of any veto of a resolution addressing aggression or atrocity crimes. At the present time 44 Canadian and global international law and politics experts have already endorsed the World Federalist Movement’s letter to the Minister and the list is growing. Such opinion is not new but has been ignored in the operation of the Security Council. So it is hoped that an opinion from the top world court will strengthen the hand of Security Council member states seeking to block a potential veto. (Such procedural block on its own cannot be vetoed.)

If Canada truly supports international law, and seeks to regain the respect it once enjoyed on the international stage, it must demonstrate its support of international law. Canada should show leadership by immediately seeking an ICJ advisory opinion on the illegality of Security Council vetoes in the face of aggression and atrocity crimes. To do so now, urgently and publicly will demonstrate to the world that we are the ‘true north strong and free.’ The world needs Canada to step up.