Responsibility for the United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Summary: Responsibility for the United Nations peacekeeping operations The purpose of this thesis is to analyze an issue whether the United Nations (UN) or troop contributing countries are responsible for the conduct of military contingents in the UN peacekeeping operations. The thesis focuses solely on UN-led operations and on peacekeeping forces - military troops contributed by member states in whole contingents, rather than as individuals. The reason for focusing on peacekeeping forces is their unique hybrid legal status. While they remain in the service of their states, they become for the period of their assignment international personnel under the authority of the UN. This thesis is composed of four chapters. Chapter one describes the meaning and the legal basis of peacekeeping operations and defines which types of operation are subject of the thesis. Second chapter deals with general rules governing international responsibility of states. Chapter three examines legal personality and responsibility of international organizations, in particular the UN. These two issues are closely related because for an entity to bear international obligations, it must first be established that the entity is a legal person. The fourth and crucial chapter addresses the specific issue of responsibility for a conduct of..