SOVEREIGNTY, INTERVENTION, AND THE LAW - A TENUOUS RELATIONSHIP OF COMPETING PRINCIPLES

The discussion piece argues that it is the responsibility of internati onal society as a whole to uphold international human rights standards . The piece examines traditional sources of international law as well as current human rights law to highlight the legal obligations states have to protect human rights. Additionally, it outlines sources of leg al authority that international society can use to justify humanitaria n intervention, Finally, the piece offers some prescriptive guidelines on how international society can appropriately intervene to enforce h uman rights standards in cases of gross human rights violations.