The UN Security Council and International Law explores the legal powers, limits and potential of the United Nations Security Council, offering a broadly positive (and positivist) account of the Council's work in practice. This book aims to answer questions such as 'when are Council decisions binding and on whom?', 'what legal constraints exist on Council decision making?' and 'how far is the Council bound by international law?'. Defining the controlling legal rules and differentiating between what the Council can do, as opposed to what it should do as a matter of policy, this book offers both a tool for assessment of the Council as well as realistic solutions to address its deficiencies, and, most importantly, evaluates its potential for maintaining international peace and security, to the benefit of us all.

Michael Wood is a Barrister at Twenty Essex Chambers. He is a Member of the UN International Law Commission, and a Senior Fellow, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge. Michael Wood was legal adviser to the UK Foreign Office between 1970 and 2006. He was a lawyer in the UK Mission to the UN between 1991 and 1994, working mostly on Security Council matters. He has acted for many governments before the ICJ and other international courts.

Introduction; 1. The legal nature of the security council; 2. Decisions of the security council; 3. The powers of the security Council; 4. Possible limits in the powers of the security council; 5. The security council and measures not involving the use of force; 6. The security council and the use of force; 7. The security council, international organizations and the use of force; 8. The security council and the international court of justice; 9. The security council's contribution to the development of international law; Conclusions.