The Charter of the United Nations obliges all Member States to refrain in their international relations from the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state (Art. 2(4) of UN-Charter).
The armed attack by the Russian Federation against Ukraine violates this fundamental principle of international law upon which the current international order is based.
The German Society of International Law promotes research, teaching, and drafting in the field of public international law. We insist that the language of public international law is being deliberately misused by Russia in order to advance legal allegations which are juridically untenable. We call upon all states and international actors to expose these sham arguments.
Russia has a duty to refrain from any further use of military force, to withdraw its forces from the territory of Ukraine and to seek a peaceful settlement of this dispute together with Ukraine. All states are obligated to cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means this serious breach of the prohibition against the use of force, which is a peremptory norm of general international law.
Anne Peters is director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, professor at Heidelberg, Freie Universität Berlin, and Basel, and L. Bates Lea Global Law Professor at the University of Michigan.
© Anna Logue.