Experts have emphasised the obligation on states to "refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations".
He vetoed first an American resolution calling on both belligerents to withdraw and on other states to refrain from using or threatening force in the area, and then a Russian resolution which left out the second part of the exhortation.
But in 2009 the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, rejected this view, finding that "the responsibility to protect does not alter, indeed it reinforces, the legal obligations of Member States to refrain from the use of force except in conformity with the Charter," a position he affirmed on Tuesday.
And, if so, can they be carefully enough defined?At present, the UN charter, drawn up with the horrors of the second world war still fresh, obliges member states to "refrain from the threat or use of force" and to settle their international disputes by peaceful means.
Officials said that Mr. Bolton's statement was also intended to relieve the United States of obligations under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a 1969 agreement that requires states to refrain from taking steps to undermine treaties they sign, even if they do not ratify them.
The language of that compromise statement was in stark contrast to the previous meeting, in Brussels in December, when the ministers stated, "We remain committed to an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and, in the meanwhile, urge all states to refrain from any acts which would defeat its object and purpose".
But whether other states ought to refrain from interfering with a secession or not interfere with the state's attempt to prevent a secession can depend on whether behaving in this way is likely to help establish a new norm of customary international law that permits territorially-concentrated majorities unilaterally to form their own states without interference.
This comes after repeated demands from (Greater Kashmir) human rights groups including Amnesty International, urging the state government to refrain from lodging minor detainees with hardened criminals in regular jails.
While the governor had asked state lawmakers to refrain from raising the issue during the presidential election, for fear that it would sidetrack voters, he is now encouraging lawmakers to seriously review the commission's report.
The term may refer to a political claim to exclusive control, which other nations may or may not recognize as a matter of fact, or it may refer to a legal agreement by which another state or states pledge themselves to refrain from interference within the sphere of influence.
But the Education Department should give states the flexibility to refrain from penalizing schools or teachers based on the test data for at least a year, until an evaluation system for the Common Core is validated.
