The Responsibility To Protect (R2P): A Comprehensive Analysis Of International Law, Implementation, And Challenges

Written by: Advocate Milind Singh, Masters of Laws at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonipat (Class of 2027)

Abstract

This paper examines the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine as a transformative development in international law that reconceptualizes state sovereignty in relation to human rights protection. Emerging from the international community's failure to prevent mass atrocities in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, R2P establishes that when states fail to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, the international community has a responsibility to intervene. The study analyzes R2P's legal framework through existing international treaties including the UN Charter, Genocide Convention, Geneva Conventions, and Rome Statute, while examining its three-pillar structure of state responsibility, international assistance, and timely response. Through case studies of Libya (2011) and Syria, the paper evaluates R2P's implementation challenges, revealing tensions between protection mandates and sovereignty concerns, selective application driven by geopolitical interests, and Security Council paralysis. While R2P represents significant normative progress endorsed by the 2005 World Summit, its future depends on strengthening preventive capacities, clarifying intervention standards, and building broader international consensus.​

Keywords: Responsibility to Protect (R2P), mass atrocity crimes, state sovereignty, humanitarian intervention, international law, UN Security Council, genocide prevention, civilian protection, Libya intervention, Syrian crisis, three pillars of R2P, International Court of Justice, sovereignty as responsibility

36.pdf

Download PDF • 187KB

Volume 2 | Issue 1