@article{2014:di_giovanni:a_pebble_i,
title = {A Pebble in the Shoe: Assessing the Uses of Do No Harm in International Assistance},
year = {2014},
note = {This paper assesses from an international law perspective the
increasing use of “Do No Harm” as a principle to guide a broad
array of international activities, such as state-building, human
rights and climate change. Originally a medical principle derived from
the Hippocratic Oath, Do No Harm’s increased use has coincided with
greater attention to the responsibility of international actors who,
when setting out to do ‘good,’ have tried to ensure that
activities do not cause harm or make things worse off. Do No Harm is
nowhere found in binding sources, treaties or otherwise, but is
invoked in connection with a range of international legal norms in a
varied and inconsistent manner. The basic assumption that this paper
seeks to test then is that Do No Harm is not living up to its
self-stated role, serving rather to defer a series of policy or
political choices concerning the nature or apportionment of various
actors’ responsibility. To that end, the paper describes some
general features of Do No Harm’s uses, followed by a more in-depth
discussion of uses in humanitarian assistance, international human
rights and international environmental law. That discussion reveals
that Do No Harm does flag gaps in the regulation of international
conduct, but does not resolve inherent trade-offs that arise when
seeking to avoid harm. Those trade-offs are especially pronounced
where Do No Harm’s different uses overlap and risk engendering
either a false sense of coherence between competing priorities, or an
overly technocratic approach to risk mitigation and performing prior
assessments of possible impacts of activities. The larger analysis is
ultimately a call for greater conceptual clarity, when faced with the
convenience offered by Do No Harm’s incontrovertible veneer.},
journal = {VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee},
pages = {198--228},
author = {Di Giovanni, Adrian},
volume = {47},
number = {2}
}