Paper Title
Human Rights And Legitimacy Of International Law: From Necessity To Redundancy?

Abstract
Was the NATO attack on Kosovo legitimate? Is North Korea a legitimate state? Is the US a legitimate state? Is the international legal system a legitimate legal order? Are counter-terrorism laws legitimate? Legitimacy is a concept of growing concern in both the domestic and the international legal realm on the one hand, and both the domestic and international political and social realm in the other. It is not only very often mentioned but also heavily discussed. According to Buchanan, the standard of legitimacy is human rights, whereas according to Ratner the standard of legitimacy is a two-pillar system, namely peace and human rights. I will discuss these two theories as theories of legitimacy. I aim to analyse the concept of legitimacy and based on a proper conceptual analysis, show that legitimacy discussions are often based on hidden premises. By analysing legitimacy as a concept, I will show what is necessarily entailed by the concept itself and what is not. I will scrutinize other theories and show how on a proper analysis of the concept of legitimacy, the relevant discussion ought to be structured. I will end by showing that legitimacy oscillates from necessity to redundancy Keywords- human rights, legitimacy, international law