Prof. Michael RAMSDEN has published a book chapter entitled “‘Uniting against Impunity’ in the New Cold War: Will the UN General Assembly Come of Age?” in R. Wessel & R. Lawson (eds), Unity in Diversity: Perspectives on the Law of International Organizations (Brill | Nijhoff, 2025). The edited collection is to honour the distinguished academic career of Professor Niels Blokker, Leiden University. 

Situated within events of the ‘new Cold War’, Prof. Ramsden’s chapter probes the role of the United Nations General Assembly in responding to atrocity crimes. Drawing upon a historical consideration of Assembly activism in ‘uniting against impunity’, the chapter considers the role and latent potential of the UN plenary organ to perform a role in ensuring accountability for atrocity crimes. It first outlines the scope of the Assembly’s legal powers and the different forms these take. The chapter then proceeds to broadly evaluate the Assembly’s anti-impunity practice, in challenging Security Council inaction and permanent member vetoes in atrocity situations; the rise and significance of Assembly quasi-judicial determinations in country situations; and the scope for the plenary to empower investigations and courts in securing accountability for international crimes. It considers that while the Assembly has taken strides forward in uniting against impunity, there remains potential for it to go even further in fashioning creative solutions to coordinate state responses as well as to overcome Security Council deadlock.

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