Security Council Authorizations before the European Court of Human Rights: from the Behrami and Saramati Decision to the Al-Jedda Judgment

Four years after the highly criticized decision in Behrami and Saramati, on 7 July 2011 the European Court of Human Rights returned in Al-Jedda v. United Kingdom to the applicability of the European Convention on Human Rights to acts undertaken by military forces of Member States acting abroad under an authorization of the United Nations Security Council. The article examines the main implications of that case law by comparing how the Court addressed the following issues in Behrami and Saramati and in Al-Jedda: the legal nature of UNSC authorizations to states to use force; the attribution of conduct of military personnel in this kind of situations and the relationship between the European Convention and the UN collective security system. According to the author, the Al-Jedda judgment presents some elements of continuity with the Behrami and Saramati decision (such as the distinction among different models of UNSC authorization), but also significant developments (especially with regard to the possibility of dual attribution of conduct both to states and international organizations and to the interpretative presumption in favour of interpreting SC resolutions in conformity with human rights).

Maria Irene Papa, Le autorizzazioni del Consiglio di sicurezza davanti alla Corte europea dei diritti umani: dalla decisione sui casi Behrami e Saramati alla sentenza Al-Jedda in "DIRITTI UMANI E DIRITTO INTERNAZIONALE" 2/2012, pp 229-262, DOI: 10.3280/DUDI2012-002001