Questioning the Legality and Effectiveness of Economic Sanctions in International Law

Year 2023, Volume: 43 Issue: 1, 139 - 176, 19.07.2023

Ali Cenk Keskin

https://doi.org/10.26650/ppil.2023.43.1.1179962

Abstract

The international community is organized horizontally. There is no hierarchically superior institution in the relations prescribed among equals, and rules are formed in the direction of common interests; thus, the legal order pertaining to the international community differs from classical municipal legal orders. Effective compliance with rules is ensured in proportion to the parallels of mutual interests in the international order. An increase has been observed in cooperation particularly with the increase of interdependencies due to globalization. Violating the rules of international law creates a responsibility for that state. Individual and collective means of enforcing a state to comply with international rules are observed to exist. However, despite any warning to comply with international law, some actors in this community continue to be in violation and insist on exhibiting illegal behaviors. Economic sanctions and countermeasures applied on the basis of erga omnes obligations do not yet grant the same rights as an injured state to third-party states that have not been directly harmed by an unlawful act. However, developments in the Russia-Ukraine war have brought forth a new perspective to international law. Economic sanctions have become increasingly popular as a form of sanction and within themselves also possess a rich variety. Some of these diverse sanctions are not as effective as was assumed and also lack legal support. Some economic sanctions with a long prior history have been observed to result in harsher outcomes than the use of force based on their effects and to also affect a largely innocent population instead of the perpetrators of the violations. The legal regime of effective economic sanctions that directly aim for results is currently taking shape against the perpetrators of unlawful behavior.

Keywords

International Law, Economic Sanctions, International Responsibility, Collective Sanctions, Counter Measures, International Peace and Security, Humanitarian Law, Human Rights, World Trade Organization

Uluslararası Hukukta Ekonomik Yaptırımların Hukuka Uygunluğu ve Etkinliği Sorunu

Abstract

Bilindiği üzere uluslararası toplum yatay olarak organize olmuştur. Eşitler arasında düzenlenen ilişkilerde hiyerarşik bakımdan üstün bir kurum olmaması, kuralların ortak menfaatler doğrultusunda şekilleniyor olması bu hukuk düzenini klasik ulusal hukuk düzenlerinden ayırmaktadır. Bu durumun bir sonucu olarak uluslararası düzende karşılıklı menfaatlerin paralelliği oranında kurallara riayet etkin olarak sağlanmaktadır. Özellikle küreselleşmenin getirisi olarak karşılıklı bağımlılıkların artmasıyla iş birlikteliklerinde de bir yoğunlaşma gözlenmektedir. Milletlerarası hukuk kuralların ihlali ise söz konusu devletin sorumluluğunu doğurmaktadır. Uyarılara rağmen ihlale devam eden, aykırı tutumunda ısrar eden devleti uluslararası hukuka uymaya zorlayan ferdi ya da kolektif yollar bulunmaktadır. Erga omnes yükümlükler temel alınarak uygulanan ekonomik yaptırımlar ve karşı önlemler, hukuka aykırı fiilden doğrudan zarar görmeyen üçüncü taraf devletlere, zarar gören devletle aynı hakları henüz tanımamaktadır. Ancak Ukrayna-Rusya savaşında yaşanan gelişmeler uluslararası hukuka özellikle ekonomik yaptırımlar bakımından yeni bir perspektif getirmektedir. Farklı yaptırımlar arasında gittikçe daha fazla rağbet gören ekonomik yaptırımlar kendi içinde zengin bir çeşitliliğe sahiptir. Bu çeşitlilik içinde bazı yaptırımlar zannedildiği kadar etkin olmadıkları gibi hukuki destekten de yoksundur. Geçmişi çok eskilere dayanan bazı ekonomik yaptırımların ise etkileri bakımından kuvvet kullanılmasından daha da vahim sonuçlar doğurduğu, doğrudan sorumluları değil suçsuz geniş halk kitlelerini etkilediği tespit edilmektedir. Dolaylı yoldan sonuç hedeflemektense, doğrudan hukuka aykırı davranışın faillerine yönelik etkin ekonomik yaptırımlar ve bunların hukuki rejimi günümüz gelişmeleriyle yeniden şekillenmektedir.

Keywords

Uluslararası Hukuk, Ekonomik Yaptırımlar, Uluslararası Sorumluluk, Kolektif Yaptırımlar, Karşı Tedbir, Uluslararası Barış ve Güvenlik, İnsancıl Hukuk, İnsan Hakları, Dünya Ticaret Örgütü

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