Prospects for the creation of OSCE international police forces: International legal aspects

Abstract

The work is devoted to the study of international legal issues related to the creation of international police forces within the framework of the OSCE. In the doctrine of international law, the issues of creating such forces within international organizations, including the OSCE, remain understudied. As a result, there are very few scholarly works that cover the topic of this research. This topic has significant scientific importance due to the increasing political tension in Europe. A specific problem today, leading to conflict escalation due to loss of trust between the parties in the peace negotiation process, are provocations at borders where it is not possible to determine which side initiated such actions. Unfortunately, it is common for one side of the conflict to demonstrate military strength by deploying troops and heavy artillery directly to the borders with the opposing side, which is usually interpreted as a threat of military force. Such actions, of course, reduce trust between the parties, negatively affecting the course of peaceful negotiations, and clearly do not serve the purpose of final conflict resolution. Therefore, in our view, the placement of neutral civilian OSCE police forces in the border territories of the warring parties would successfully resolve this issue. The process of creating an international OSCE police force requires the development of international legal provisions regulating the main spectrum of issues in the functioning of this body. In particular, among such issues is the creation of an international judicial body alongside the police forces, which would handle cases arising from the interactions of international police with individuals on the ground. Thus, the goal of this work is to research the international legal and institutional problems in creating international OSCE police forces, as well as to determine the specific form of activity of these forces, which is most appropriate considering current realities. According to the research findings, the creation of international OSCE police forces is advisable in contemporary international relations and acceptable from the perspective of international law.

Keywords

• international police forces
• OSCE
• international gendarmerie
• international law
• armed forces
• international disputes