UN Peace Operations

Abstract This chapter examines the laws regarding UN operations for the maintenance or restoration of international peace and security involving military elements. UN peacekeeping forces are by necessity present on ‘foreign’ territory—a fact which renders peacekeeping forces comparable to traditional Visiting Forces. There are, however, a number of differences which distinguish peacekeeping forces from the usual type of Visiting Forces. The main difference is their international mandate as an instrumentality of the UN. Their task is either the prevention or the pacification of international armed conflicts by serving as buffers or observers, or the reestablishment of internal order in a country through a wide array of measures, in particular after the end of an internal conflict. This specific mandate must be reflected in one way or the other in the legal rules which regulate their status and their rights and duties.