Editing 2003 (section)

=== International law ===
The American-led invasion of Iraq dominated discourse around international law and sparked debate about when such actions are justified. Military intervention was supported by countries such as Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and much of Eastern Europe, while its strongest opponents included China, France, Germany, and Russia. The United States argued that it was legally authorized under [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 678]] (1990), as well as [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 687|Resolution 687]] (1991) and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441|Resolution 1441]] (2002). This was challenged on the basis that Resolution 678 could no longer be assumed to apply and that the Security Council had not affirmed Iraq was in violation of its order.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=491}} The Iraqi president [[Saddam Hussein]] went into hiding as the invasion took place, but he was discovered and arrested six months later.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=4}}

The [[International Court of Justice]] (ICJ) accepted two new cases in 2003: [[Pedra Branca dispute|a border dispute case]] between Malaysia and Singapore and [[Avena case|a dispute]] over the United States' application of the death penalty against Mexican nationals. It declined to impose any provisional measures in an ongoing case regarding France's claim of universal criminal jurisdiction. The [[United Nations General Assembly]] requested an [[advisory opinion]] from the ICJ regarding the construction of the [[West Bank barrier]] by Israel. A case filed by Libya against the United Kingdom and the United States regarding the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 was settled outside of court.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=491}} The ICJ ruled in the [[Oil Platforms case|''Oil Platforms'' case]] that American force was not justified in [[Operation Nimble Archer|the 1987 attacks]] on Iranian oil platforms but that it had not broken the [[Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights|1955 treaty]] as Iran alleged. It rejected appeals of a 1992 border dispute between El Salvador and Honduras and a 1996 decision that the ICJ had jurisdiction in Yugoslavia at the time.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=492}}

The [[International Criminal Court]] was inaugurated in March, and the UN Security Council granted the United States a one-year extension of its exemption for American UN Peacekeepers.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=494}}

The UN Security Council determined that two separate prosecutors should be appointed for the criminal tribunals [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda|for Rwanda]] and [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|for Yugoslavia]] instead of keeping them under a single prosecutor. The tribunal for Rwanda confirmed the conviction of [[Georges Rutaganda]], and it convicted [[Elizaphan Ntakirutimana]] as the first of several clerics it was prosecuting. It also sentenced several journalists to prison for their role in the [[Rwandan genocide]], marking the first conviction of [[crimes against humanity]] for journalists since the [[Nuremberg trials]].<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=494}} The tribunal for Yugoslavia sentenced [[Biljana Plavšić]] to 11 years in prison and [[Milomir Stakić]] to 20 years for crimes against humanity, while [[Stanislav Galić]] was convicted of terrorism for attacks on civilians in the [[Siege of Sarajevo]]. Terms for the creation of a [[Khmer Rouge Tribunal]] in Cambodia were agreed on in June.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=495}}

The [[Migrant Workers Convention]] came into effect on July 1. The [[United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime]], the first UN measure on the issue, came into force on September 29. The [[United Nations Convention Against Corruption]] opened for signing on December 9.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=493}}