“The problem is not an absence of law, but of compliance”: UN Security Council debates universal application of international law

On 16 September 2026, Pakistan, an elected member of the UN Security Council, convened an Arria-formula meeting on the universal application of international law. The discussion, reported by Pressenza, focused on a central problem: the gap between existing rules and their enforcement.

Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, summed up the diagnosis: the problem is not an absence of law, it is the absence of compliance. Speakers from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Peace Institute addressed the protection of civilians in armed conflict, humanitarian access and accountability for violations.

Participants warned that the selective application of legal standards, strict for some and lenient for others, erodes the credibility of international institutions. Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai of the World Forum for Peace and Justice, author of the Pressenza report, used Kashmir as a case study and called for impartial international investigation mechanisms.

The debate reflects a growing concern in many forums: without consistent enforcement, international law risks becoming a set of principles invoked only when convenient.

Source: Pressenza – Universal Application of International Law