Civil resistance in Public International Law

Abstract

Civil resistance has rarely been analyzed from the field of public international law. This article will thus study the conception of civil resistance through its history and its current understanding in scholarship and practice, to then analyze its standing in public international law, considering doctrinal positions and the international legal framework. In this study it is argued that civil resistance may be grounded in international law general principles of law, and more concretely in the general principles of international human rights law. More particularly, it is submitted that international human rights law provides persons and organizations with a conceptual and at the same time operational basis to argue in favor of defending the rights of persons in conditions of vulnerability, discrimination, inequality and exclusion. The article will build on the legal framework and illustrative jurisprudence of United Nations, and regional human rights bodies, to reflect on its potential to serve as a foundation and a source of legitimation for civil resistance and people’s movements in relation to human rights principles, values and norms.