Legality and Legitimacy of Military Intervention in Libya in Accordance with UN Charter and within the Concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

There has been significant shift in the approach towards to principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states particularly pertaining to the issues of widespread human rights violations which was the case during the bipolar system of world order In this context, the phrase of “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) coined in the outcome document of UN General Assembly World Summet 2005 identifies four types of crimes “genocide, “war crimes”, “ethnic cleansing” and “crimes against humanity” for the governments to protect their civilian populations.. The report also states that the states failing to uphold responsibility to protect are likely to face economic, political and legal sanctions and that in case the existing measures remain inadequate the failed sate may subject to coercive measures including the use of armed force with the approval of UN Security Council. As a result of ciolent crackdown on widespread anti-governments protests killing some hundreds demonstrators on February 11, 2011, the UN Security Council convened and adopted Resolution 1970 and 1973 affirming that the emerging situation poses a threat to international peace and security, thus paving way for the military intervention in Libya. This article argues that military operation in Libya complies with international law in accordance with coercive measures stipulated in UN Chapter VII articles 39-43. The legality of the military operation will be evaluatedin the light of the criteria within the the concept of responsibility to protect, a devoloping concept to become a moral norm in international law.