The Legality of the Acts - Essay Example

The legality of the acts depends on the laws involved. If the act was approved by someone but the laws involving the situation are not being followed then the said act is legitimate but it is illegal.

In the case of the Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic who serves the country from 1989 to 1997, the capture of Pres. Milosevic is said to be legitimate but the process of how he was captured and treated is somewhat illegal. He then became the president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000. He resigned from the Yugoslav presidency amid demonstrations, following the disputed presidential election of September 24, 2000. (wikipedia.com). He surrendered to the JSO (an elite group of police in Serbia), to avoid forced arrest on April 1, 2001. This put in compliance with an American deadline. The warrant had previously been made on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement. The charges were domestic. The legitimacy of the arrest was not proven since Milosevic surrendered; however, putting Milosevic in jail is not legal. The investigation does not have hard evidence to convict the former president. The Serbian Prime Minister

instead of releasing him, he was sent to The Hague, wherein he will be tried for alleged war crimes.
Milosevic's act during the war convicted him of committing war crimes. During the Yugoslav war in 1990 and the Kosovo war in 1999, he conducted his defense at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where he stood accused of crimes against humanity, violating the laws or customs of war, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and genocide.
The decision of the court not to give him the proper medical treatment is legitimate in the sense that he is convicted of a crime, but the said action is illegal since every person is entitled to have proper treatment. His trial ended without a verdict because he died during the proceedings. He suffered from heart ailments and high blood pressure.
In the case of President Milosevic, he had made a legitimate act during the war since he is the president; however, he violated the laws of war and the Geneva Conventions. The political acts performed by Milosevic are a good example of legitimate acts but legal.
There are also cases wherein a political act is legitimate but does not necessarily need to be legal. In the case of the Americans and the British decision to attack Iraq and engaged in war is legitimate. In the inquiry of people on the website of Noam Chomsky one question goes like this: “Do you think that, after the

the unjustified and unjustifiable war against Iraq, the world will lose the meaning of its existence, like in the field of language, when we lose the grammatical rules? Will we automatically lose the reference of the meaning of sentences, and consequently the meaning of the world around us?" Noam answers this question by citing one statement done by a follower of the Iraq war, Michael Glennon, who argues that we should recognize that international law and international institutions are what he calls hot air. They have proven their inapplicability by the fact that the United States disregards them, and he says it is right to disregard them, and the United States must maintain the right to use force as it chooses, independent of these institutions, which we simply have to dismiss and disregard.
The act of Americans and the British against Iraq has gained criticism throughout the world. But the said act is legitimate. The legality of attacking someone is not being followed especially during a time of war or the need to have a war. In the case of the American President, he needs to make decisions depending on the situation and not to please someone. He fears that Iraq might act first against US and Britain so he needs to counteract it. Some politicians are questioning the position of the Americans and the British, for them they need to follow the Geneva Convention against war and wait for the UN to agree on what they need to do.

Conclusion
Based on the above cases a political act can be legitimate but not necessarily legal. In the case of war against Iraq, there are a lot of laws that are not being followed. Some actions taken by both parties are illegal but it is legitimate since the order comes from the highest authority. The action done by Milosevic during the war is legitimate since it is coming from the president. There are cases wherein immediate action is needed and it sometimes causes someone to break the law. In this case, the ones who conduct the action are being blamed. However, there are many cases wherein political actions are being carried out by subordinates.