The Legality of NATO Bombing, The Kosovo Declaration of Independence And The Development of International Law

ABSTRACT: This thesis aims to investigate the implications of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization humanitarian intervention in Kosovo and the consequent declaration of independence of Kosovo in international law. It also seeks to analyze the legality of both cases; while considering the arguments of both proponents and critics of the concept of humanitarian intervention, and the current standing of the International Court of Justice on the declaration of Kosovo independence, with an attempt to illustrate that such international events like that of Kosovo effects changes or at least elements of change in international law. For this reason, The Process School theory of international law will be adopted as a theoretical framework of this thesis. Both the intervention by NATO in Kosovo and the declaration of independence by Kosovo cannot be discussed, one without the other. Surely we would see that NATO’s actions and the declaration of independence by Kosovo came as a result of some process of authoritative decision-making. This thesis concludes that such events as the cases elaborated on prove that international law is indeed a process. Keywords: humanitarian intervention, human rights, sovereignty, process school, authoritative decision-making. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………