scholarly journals Theorizing or Negotiating the Law?: A Response to Devika Hovell

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 3-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonios Tzanakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Cholera Outbreak ◽  
A Value ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
State Practice ◽  
The United Nations

Devika Hovell’s article is a very welcome and useful contribution to the debate regarding the “accountability” (whatever the term may mean) of international organizations, and the United Nations in particular. The author argues that scholarship has tended to focus on (descriptive) state practice to the detriment of (normative) theoretical appeal, and so the relevant discussion “has received inadequate theoretical attention.” In response, she sets out to tell the story of the United Nations being held to account through a highly theorized (and, if I may venture even at the outset, perhaps a bit stylized) scheme of contrasting “instrumentalist,” “dignitarian,” and “public interest” approaches to due process. This she applies to two case studies, one regarding targeted sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, mainly in the context of antiterrorism; and one regarding the cholera outbreak in Haiti, where the United Nations has been implicated. Hovell critiques both the instrumentalist and dignitarian approaches, which correspond in broad terms to legal action at the international, and the domestic/regional level, respectively, and argues in favor of a “public interest” approach as better reflecting a “value-based” due process.

Beyond Srebrenica and Haiti

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 588-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Schrijver
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Member States ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Cold War

Since the end of the Cold War, international organizations have frequently called upon their member States to respect the principles of good governance and international law. Increasingly, however, questions are raised concerning the behaviour of international organizations themselves and whether their own practice corresponds to what they expect from their member States. In other words: do organizations practise what they preach? Since many international organizations aim to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, it is reasonable to consider the extent to which these organizations respect such rights and freedoms themselves. Given the immunity of the United Nations, this paper examines some alternative legal procedures for the settlement of claims against the United Nations, taking into consideration contemporary international principles in relation to access to court, due process and reparation. It concludes with a number of recommendations.

scholarly journals Nationality versus Gender? The Administrative Politics of Gender Parity in the United Nations and the Implementation of SCR1325

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Davies
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Gender Parity ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract This article will shed light on an under-researched aspect of the implementation of gender policies in the UN Secretariat—the administrative and budgetary committees that establish the staff regulations for civilian personnel. The article will explore how the politics of UN recruitment invokes two primary identities—nationality and gender—and how these conflict with each other. Using demographic analysis of UN civilian staff in peace operations and a micro-case study of an ongoing attempt by the Secretary-General to change the staff rules and regulations to introduce a form of affirmative action to reach gender parity, this article finds that efforts to achieve the representative provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, including through gender parity of civilians in peace operations, are hampered by the primacy of national identity in international organizations as well as by the highly politicized and nation state-driven process of administrative and budgetary decision-making. By focusing on the inner dynamics of decision-making in the United Nations, the article contributes to the literature on international organizations and gender by demonstrating how normative goals can be undermined by competition among member states over internal administrative processes arising from complex principal–agent relationships.

Due Process Rights at the United Nations: Fairness and Effectiveness in Internal Investigations

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu Waechter
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Legal Representation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations System ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Due Process Rights

International organizations have a duty to combat frauds and other wrongdoings in their midst – with due respect for the rights of their staff members. Internal investigation is a tool for administration of internal justice and oversight. There are currently discussions within the United Nations System regarding who should conduct these investigations, and most importantly how. Discussion topics include discretionary authority to initiate an investigation and to outline its appropriate scope, standard of evidence, legal representation, timing of the disclosure of evidence and other due process considerations. This contribution discusses the cost of some selected due process policies and calls for balancing fairness and effectiveness objectives in investigation, keeping in mind both the rights of staff members and the public good objectives for which donors entrust funds to international organizations.

Dilemmas of Justice and Reconciliation: Rwandans and the Gacaca Courts

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaka Megwalu ◽  
Neophytos Loizides
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Due Process ◽  
National Court ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Widening Participation ◽  
Court System ◽  
Trained Personnel ◽  
The United Nations

Following the 1994 genocide, several justice initiatives were implemented in Rwanda, including a tribunal established by the United Nations, Rwanda's national court system and Gacaca, a ‘traditional’ community-run conflict resolution mechanism adapted to prosecute genocide perpetrators. Since their inception in 2001, the Gacaca courts have been praised for their efficiency and for widening participation, but criticised for lack of due process, trained personnel and attention to atrocities committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). To evaluate these criticisms, we present preliminary findings from a survey of 227 Rwandans and analyse their attitudes towards Gacaca in relation to demographic characteristics such as education, residence and loss of relatives during the genocide.

scholarly journals Delegating diplomacy: rhetoric across agents in the United Nations General Assembly

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232199756
Author(s):  
Julia Gray ◽  
Alex Baturo
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Single Voice ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Career Incentives

When political principals send agents to international organizations, those agents are often assumed to speak in a single voice. Yet, various types of country representatives appear on the international stage, including permanent representatives as well as more overtly “political” government officials. We argue that permanent delegates at the United Nations face career incentives that align them with the bureaucracy, setting them apart from political delegates. To that end, they tend to speak more homogeneously than do other types of speakers, while also using relatively more technical, diplomatic rhetoric. In addition, career incentives will make them more reluctant to criticize the United Nations. In other words, permanent representatives speak more like bureaucratic agents than like political principals. We apply text analytics to study differences across agents’ rhetoric at the United Nations General Assembly. We demonstrate marked distinctions between the speech of different types of agents, contradictory to conventional assumptions, with implications for our understandings of the interplay between public administration and agency at international organizations. Points for practitioners Delegations to international organizations do not “speak with one voice.” This article illustrates that permanent representatives to the United Nations display more characteristics of bureaucratic culture than do other delegates from the same country. For practitioners, it is important to realize that the manner in which certain classes of international actors “conduct business” can differ markedly. These differences in tone—even among delegates from the same principal—can impact the process of negotiation and debate.

Mandate or Donors? Explaining the UNHCR’s Country-Level Expenditures from 1967 to 2016

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172097433
Author(s):  
Svanhildur Thorvaldsdottir ◽  
Ronny Patz ◽  
Klaus H Goetz
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Voluntary Contributions ◽  
United Nations High Commissioner ◽  
Country Level ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Donor Influence ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Major Donors ◽  
Expenditure Allocation

In recent decades, many international organizations have become almost entirely funded by voluntary contributions. Much existing literature suggests that major donors use their funding to refocus international organizations’ attention away from their core mandate and toward serving donors’ geostrategic interests. We investigate this claim in the context of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), examining whether donor influence negatively impacts mandate delivery and leads the organization to direct expenditures more toward recipient countries that are politically, economically, or geographically salient to major donors. Analyzing a new dataset of UNHCR finances (1967–2016), we find that UNHCR served its global mandate with considerable consistency. Applying flexible measures of collective donor influence, so-called “influence-weighted interest scores,” our findings suggest that donor influence matters for the expenditure allocation of the agency, but that mandate-undermining effects of such influence are limited and most pronounced during salient refugee situations within Europe.

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