Legal Issues in the United Nations Compensation Commission on Iraq

This article is a comprehensive interrogation of the legality or otherwise of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) on Iraq; its establishment, operations and manifestations as the very first war reparation facility adopted by the Security Council on the basis of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, and making it binding on an aggressor State. The paper argued that the UNCC, which is an interesting example of the institutionalisation of the United Nations compensation mechanism, is unprecedented in the UN’s compensation experience, in many respect. Although the design of the UNCC, however, fell within the tradition of war reparation facilities, in some respect, its operations, particularly subjecting the whole economy of Iraq to international control violated Iraq’s sovereignty. The paper concludes that despite the lacuna, the design of the UNCC would serve as a model for future compensation schemes. Keywords: Iraq, Compensation, Reparation, United Nations, UNCC, International Law