The law and reality of the responsibility to maintain international peace and security
This research project seeks to establish a network of experts, practitioners, policy stakeholders, and UN colleagues to address a core question: What is the legal nature of the international obligation to maintain peace and security? We will investigate this by exploring two key issues:
- The legal nature of the responsibility to maintain international peace and security, as recognised in Article 24(1) of the United Nations Charter
- The reality of how this responsibility is perceived, implemented, and actioned within the United Nations itself.
The powers of the United Nations and the options available to the UN Security Council for maintaining international peace and security have been widely studied. However, the legal and political nature of this responsibility has not been explored in the depth proposed by this research project. The core members of this project have been at the forefront of developing the study of this responsibility, and intend to expand our network of expertise, to allow us to delve further into this issue with greater depth and a robust approach.
This project proposes to be the first part of a dedicated study of the legal origins, existing obligations, and policy practices that directly address or influence the responsibility to maintain international peace and security.
Mapping the legal framework
While existing academic research covers various aspects of how the UN functions and how international peace and security can be achieved, this project is unique in its core focus. We will specifically map the responsibility to maintain international peace and security to the UN’s existing legal and political structures. This dedicated study will provide a clear and detailed overview of the responsibility, its legal sources, and the political frameworks that impact its implementation. Ultimately, we hope this will help us to understand how the responsibility is viewed in both law and the practical reality at the UN.
The project commits to a dedicated study to provide a clear and detailed overview of the responsibility, its sources, and the policy / political frameworks that impact its implementation.
The legal framework will detail the relevant legal obligations that uphold or support the implementation of the maintenance of international peace and security, such as:
- The legal status of the responsibility in the UN Charter, (starting with Article 24(1));
- Any subsequent agreement and practice of states relating to the responsibility;
- Obligations from other treaties or customary sources;
- Overlaps with positive human rights obligations.
The framework would also set out non-legal sources of responsibilities, guidance, and policy that complement the maintenance of international peace and security. This will include an investigation into whether and how:
- the responsibility is supported by other responsibilities, such as the ‘Responsibility to Protect’;
- the responsibility is supported by the mandates of organisations, or organisational policies and procedures;
- the responsibility is influenced by more informal frameworks between states, such as sanctions coordination, or the agreed outcomes of state groupings (e.g. G7, G20, BRICS).
The aim is to produce a detailed, accessible resource for academics, policymakers, and other relevant actors.
Building on previous research and expertise
Building on research undertaken members of the team, this project seeks to bring together an extensive collection of expertise to consider the viability of such a mapping exercise, build the research framework for producing this, and ultimately prepare a collection of research papers to provide the foundation for future fieldwork to confirm the real-world application and implementation of these findings.
While there are numerous existing studies into the operation of the UN (e.g. Hans Kelsen, Simma’s Commentaries on the UN Charter, Butchard’s Responsibility to Protect and the Failures of the UN Security Council, and recent articles by Murphy and Pezzano), there has not yet been such a dedicated and detailed investigation into the sources, legal nature, and implementation of the responsibility to maintain international peace and security. This project builds on those existing contributions to develop a broader understanding of the legal framework underpinning this core responsibility for peace and security.
Connecting academia and policy
The project will bridge the gaps between the academic legal and theoretical expertise on this subject and the actual practice and policy of those at the UN – connecting the concepts of the law to the work of stakeholders. This will illuminate important, but unexplored, practices at the UN, and offer an opportunity for understanding areas of best practice when responding to threats to international peace and security.
At a time where states are seeking clarity on how the UN can be more effective in its work, this project will produce knowledge that will enable policymakers to better navigate the political challenges required to discharge the responsibility to maintain international peace and security.
With this in mind, this project aims to reach beyond academia, making its findings accessible to stakeholders and the public. We aim to produce condensed briefings and multimedia outputs for policymakers, states, and UN stakeholders, in addition to robust academic publications.
Project Strands
- Strand 1 – Concept: Identifying and defining the conceptual framework for the responsibility to maintain international peace and security.
- Strand 2 – Law: Mapping the legal framework of the responsibility to maintain international peace and security to legal and non-legal sources.
- Strand 3 – Reality: mapping the reality – the real-world implementation of the responsibility to maintain international peace and security at the UN.
Latest news
The team will be convening a series of workshops over the 2025-2026 academic year to discuss Strands 1 and 2 of the project. If you have expressed interest in being involved, you will receive invitations to these workshops in the coming months.
To express your interest, or stay in touch, please contact Dr Patrick Butchard at [email protected]
Current Project Team
Dr Patrick Butchard
Edge Hill University
Dr Ben Murphy
University of Liverpool
Dr Samuel Jarvis
York St John University
Dr Jennifer Giblin
Edge Hill University
Maša Kovič-Dine
University of Ljubljana
Prior to her appointment as Judge at the ECtHR, this project benefited from the collegiate support of
Prof Vasilka Sancin, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
The team welcomes interest from other academics, policy stakeholders, government departments, and stakeholders involved with the United Nations.
If your organisation is interested in supporting this project, please do also get in touch.
To get involved, contact Dr Patrick Butchard at