Kellogg-Briand Pact

The Kellogg-Briand Pact, also known as the Pact of Paris, after the city where it was signed on August 27, 1928, is an international treaty "providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy." It failed in this purpose, but is significant for later developments in international law.

Effect and legacy

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was concluded outside the League of Nations, and remains a binding treaty under international law. In the United States it remains in force as part of the supreme positive law, under Article VI of the United States Constitution.

Related Topics:
League of Nations - International law - United States Constitution

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As a practical matter, the Kellogg-Briand Pact did not live up to its aim of ending war, and in this sense it made no immediate contribution to international peace and proved to be ineffective in the years to come; the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and the German invasion of Poland, were prime examples of this. However, the pact is an important multilateral treaty because, in addition to binding the particular nations that signed it, it has also served as one of the legal bases establishing the international norm that the use of military force is presumptively unlawful.

Related Topics:
Japanese invasion of Manchuria - Italian invasion of Ethiopia - German invasion of Poland - Multilateral treaty

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Notably, the pact served as the legal basis for the creation of the notion of crime against peace — it was for committing this crime that the Nuremberg Tribunal sentenced a number of persons responsible for starting World War II.

Related Topics:
Crime against peace - Nuremberg Tribunal - World War II

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The interdiction of aggressive war was confirmed and broadened by the United Nations Charter, which states in article 2 paragraph 4 that "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations." The consequence of this is that after World War II, nations have been forced to invoke the right of self-defense or the right of collective defense when using military action and have also been prohibited from annexing territory by force.{{Wikisource}}

Related Topics:
United Nations Charter - Right of self-defense - Right of collective defense

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