Security Council resolution: ambiguity or clarity? --- Linguistically speaking, the demonstration of scope ambiguity in the Article 11 (e) is impeccable. However, while for didactic purposes the analysis is correct, for its political purposes, Article 11(e) can be see as very coherent and clear.

To some extent, in our text, this clause is decontextualized. The diplomats who negotiated the resolution 1244 (1999) and those who have tried to implement it have probably seen Article 11(e) in increasingly broader concentric circles.

1. Article 11 is divided in (a) through (k) paragraphs. The Article 11 describes the entire set of 11 responsibilities of the international civil presence. Subparagraph (e) should be read in conjunction with the rest. The degree of concreteness varies. For example, (j) expresses a principle, while (i) indicates the clear commitment to deploy physically an international police force. The force of the word "decides" cover all those levels of concreteness.

2. Article 11 in its entirety should be seen in the context of the whole operative part (Articles 1 - 21). That will indicate that the word "facilitation" refers to a process that is predetermined by many Articles: the cooperation of FRY (2), the withdrawal of military forces (3, 4), the work of a Special Representative (6), the early deployment of effective civil and security presence etc.

3. The operative part, in its turn, should be seen together with the entire resolution, including the preamble and the annexes. By doing so, we will have much less ambiguity on the word "design". For example, the preamble makes reference, in its second paragraph, to several previous resolutions. In the ninth paragraph we note the reference to the general principles of a political solution to the Kosovo crisis which exist already. The tenth and eleventh paragraphs of the same preamble reaffirm the commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of FRY and the self-administration for Kosovo.

4. The annexes adds a lot of elements to define the "design" used for the "determination" of the status of Kosovo, whose implementation needs "facilitation". All in all, the context indicates a rather precise process and protagonists, started with the Rambouillet accords.

5. Finally, the word "decides" as a chapeau is essential and it comes from the responsibilities attributed to the Security Council by the UN Charter. However, the status of Kosovo cannot be prescribed ex cathedra by the Security Council; one needs a process, facilitated by the United Nations in various ways, including by the international civil presence whose main responsibilities are described in Article 11.

6. I am aware that I mixed up language considerations with my own interpretation of a Security Council resolution, but my (subjective and personal) conclusion is that the word "decides" is not diluted, but supported by the contents of Article 11.

Source author: Petru Dumitriu PetruD@diplomacy.edu