The Security Council in practice: Haiti, cholera, and the elected members of the United Nations Security Council

Freedman, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3037-9026 and Lemay-Hebert, N. (2020) The Security Council in practice: Haiti, cholera, and the elected members of the United Nations Security Council. Leiden Journal of International Law, 33 (1). pp. 157-176. ISSN 1478-9698 doi: 10.1017/S0922156519000633

Abstract/Summary

While the cholera outbreak in Haiti still claims victims every month, it is also the backdrop of one of the biggest legal battles the UN has been engaged in – one for the recognition of harm caused and for reparations for victims of cholera. Having used its immunity to disengage from the issue, the UN finally changed its stance in December 2016 and apologised for the organisation’s role in the cholera outbreak. This article analyses the role of the elected members of the Security Council – alongside other key stakeholders – in contributing to the UN’s change of policy. Based on privileged access to a number of actors in this politico-legal fight, this article argues that elected members of the Security Council have played a crucial role in pushing the UN to ‘do the right thing’. This article, along with other contributions to this special issue, sheds a different light on the practices inside the Security Council, demonstrating that elected members are far from being powerless, as most of the literature on the subject tends to assume. They can successfully play a significant role inside the organisation when the right conditions permit them to play this role.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/85598
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/S0922156519000633
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Law
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
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