Is the R2P Norm a Legal Norm?

Abstract

The conception of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) was developed to resolve the practical problem of the inefficiency of the international community to address atrocities. The present contribution aims at the clarification of the theoretical problem on the nature of R2P norm and provision of conceptual tools for its solution. After differentiating R2P objects and contouring their content, the question whether the R2P norm is of a legal kind will be addressed. The contribution claims that application of the proposed legal concepts – theoretical conception related to the law, doctrine, norm, principle and rule – contributes to the clarification of the objects and content of the R2P; and that political responsibility approach to the identification of a legal norm and the specific concept of emerging norm are suitable tools for determining the legal nature of R2P norm.