The Earthquake in Haiti: Law and Legal Issues in International Disaster Response

Abstract

The catastrophic earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010, drew aid from many countries and international organizations. However, despite rapid response of the world community, the large-scale relief operations were confronted by legal problems related to restrictions on entering the territory of Haiti and deployment of humanitarian efforts in that country by different international organizations, as well as by lack of a comprehensive body of codified international legal norms, enabling aid to be provided promptly and efficiently.
The article offers a review of international legal and other sources, applicable to regulation of provision of international aid to a country struck by a natural disaster, and provides examples when aid was admitted with consent of an affected country. It further discusses the threshold of the magnitude of a disaster in its relation to the scale and modalities of international response action. As a case-study, the article describes legal aspects of participation in Haiti earthquake response actions of Russian Emergency Ministry’s rescue teams and of elements US Armed Forces.