International law and peace settlements

While the legal literature has for the most part focused on the application of legal regimes to the practice and outcomes of peacemaking, very little attention has been paid to the broader ways in which international law can shape the narrative of peacemaking earlier in the process.

Yet, peace mediation has an innate relationship to international law because of its role in the maintenance of the multilateral order established by the UN Charter.
The influence of law is seen on three levels.
The first is the overall commitment to work within the mechanisms of the Charter to resolve disputes.

It suggests that by mandating peace mediation under Chapter VII international law provides a cloak of legal authority for the securitisation of the process, prioritising one form of security over others, shifting the emphasis away from broader social transformation and towards the narrowly defined parameters of hard security. 2.

It demonstrates both the way in which the UNSC defines the threats it sees as being ‘likely to endanger’ peace and security, as well as the recommended response to those threats.
In so doing it also recalls its own position as bearing primary responsibility under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Some suggest that the fragmentation of international law into specialized subfields, such as trade law, human rights, etc

The chapters focus on binding and nonbinding procedures of peaceful settlement: negotiation, good offices, inquiry, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, and agencies for dispute resolution

Oellers-Frahm, Karin, and Andreas Zimmermann

Dispute Settlement in Public International Law

In relation to the principle of peaceful settlement of international disputes UN Charter (Art

3) states that "All members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means so that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered"