One of the world's leading journals in the field of international law has published a lengthy article by UAlberta Law's Professor Joanna Harrington on the topical issue of the UN Security Council and its working methods. Published this month in the International and Comparative Law Quarterly by Cambridge University Press, Harrington's article examines the decision-making processes used by the UN's potentially most powerful organ, drawing on insights gained from international organizations law, the law of international peace and security, and the field of public administration.
The article argues for the use of such principles as transparency, engagement, and accountability, as well as the principle of conflict prevention, as guideposts for the implementation of Council reforms. The article makes extensive use of primary sources, including archival records, Council transcripts and diplomatic materials, as well as the writings by participants found in the literature, with much of the research conducted by Harrington while a visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford and a Fulbright scholar at the University of Texas at Austin.