6. International organizations

2019 ◽  
pp. 131-160
Author(s):  
Gleider Hernández

This chapter looks at international organizations, their differences to States, and their position within the international legal order. Today, international organizations exist in virtually all fields of transnational and global collective concern. In the broadest sense, they facilitate international cooperation in all areas from the harmonization of tariffs to the management of delicate ecosystems, and range in their scope from small bilateral commissions regulating transboundary resources to regional security and economic organizations, all the way to the universalist aspirations of the UN. The chapter then considers the question of establishing the legal personality of international organizations under international law, which must be distinguished from the question of whether an international organization may also hold legal personality under the domestic law of a State.

2004 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
Vladimir Kanachevskii

AbstractThe author examines the legal status of international organizations and foreign states in trade and commerce in the Russian Federation. The specifi c issues which are touched upon by the author include general problems of the participation of public entities—such as international organizations as legal persons and the immunity of foreign states and international organizations—in civil law relations. The author concludes that domestic legislation should not be considered to be the only source of law for regulating private international relations involving states; practice illustrates that international treaties are also a source of such rules and regulations. Special attention in this article is devoted to characteristic features of the legal personality of international organizations, the sources of law regulating relations in which international organizations participate, the role of domestic law and internal rules of international organization itself, the various aspects of the legal capacity of international organizations as subjects of Russian civil law including agreements involving international organizations, the legal status of their separate divisions, issues relating to the property rights of international organization, and the civil law status of representatives of foreign states attached to international organizations (and their civil servants). The legal base for this research is formed by international treaties, the charters and internal rules of international organizations, and rules of Russian civil legislation as well as decisions of Russian and international judicial bodies. By way of conclusion, the author postulates that it is wise for domestic (and foreign) natural and legal persons, which enter into relations with the international organizations and foreign states, to take into consideration the specifi c nature of the above-mentioned subjects. In practice, this may result in dismissal of a plaintiff 's claim in a RF court where the defendant is an international organization or foreign state. It may thereby be impossible to hold such an organization or state civilly liable (without its consent) for breaching a contractual undertaking.


2020 ◽  
pp. 140-155
Author(s):  
Paola Gaeta ◽  
Jorge E. Viñuales ◽  
Salvatore Zappalà

This chapter discusses the international legal personality of international organizations, illustrating the origins of the phenomenon, the evolution of such organizations over time, and the different types of organization. It goes on to consider the source and scope of their status and powers within the international legal order, inter alia, by focusing on the principle of speciality (or conferral) and the theory of implied powers. The chapter then deals with the problem of the recognition of immunities of international organizations and their personnel, as well as with the debate surrounding the rules which relate to their responsibility under international law.


Author(s):  
Dapo Akande

This chapter examines the legal framework governing international organizations. It begins with an examination of the history, role, and nature of international organizations. It is argued that although the constituent instruments and practices of each organization differ, there are common legal principles which apply to international organizations. The chapter focuses on the identification and exploration of those common legal principles. There is an examination of the manner in which international organizations acquire legal personality in international and domestic law and the consequences of that legal personality. There is also discussion of the manner in which treaties establishing international organizations are interpreted and how this differs from ordinary treaty interpretation. The legal and decision-making competences of international organizations are considered as are the responsibility of international organizations and their privileges and immunities. Finally, the chapter examines the structure and powers of what is the leading international organization—the United Nations (UN).


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-340
Author(s):  
Gloria Fernández Arribas

The Kimberley Process represents a new method of international cooperation between subjects of international law. It was named by its creators as a process, setting it apart from international organizations, and leading too to its consideration as informal international law-making or soft law. In this study we shall analyze the extent to which the Kimberley Process falls into these categories. Our main task, however, is to compare it to formal international organizations, with a view to establishing whether what really has been created is an institutionalization process that is like an international organization, but with a different name. To do this, we will analyze with reference to the Kimberley Process the various respective fields of international organizations, such as founding agreement, membership, structure, decision-making process and legal order.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-233
Author(s):  
Kristina Daugirdas

Abstract This article argues that international organizations ‘as such’ can contribute directly to the creation of customary international law for three independent reasons. First, the states establishing an international organization may subjectively intend for that organization to be able to contribute to the creation of at least some kinds of customary international law. Second, that capacity may be an implied power of the organization. Third, that capacity may be a byproduct of other features or authorities of the international organization – specifically, the combination of international legal personality and the capacity to operate on the international plane. Affirming international organizations’ direct role in making customary international law will not dramatically change the content of customary international law or the processes by which rules of customary international law are ascertained. But recognizing that role is significant because it will reinforce other conclusions about how international organizations fit into the international legal system, including that customary international law binds international organizations. Such recognition may also shift the way lawyers within international organizations carry out their work by affecting the sources they consult when answering legal questions, the materials they make publicly available and the kinds of expertise that are understood to be necessary to discharge their responsibilities. Finally, affirming international organizations’ role in creating customary international law may make international organizations more willing to comply with those rules.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy S. Goodwin-Gill

AbstractDespite nearly 100 years of international organization and practice, international refugee law is confronted today with the critical challenges of globalization, securitization and an increasingly mobile world. Large-scale movements have exposed serious cracks in the European project; the EU's stated policy goal seems simply to keep refugees away. Elsewhere, numerous refugee situations are “protracted,” while persistent underdevelopment continues to drive the movement of people between States, in a context in which States appear unable to manage “irregular” migration. If a generous asylum policy is in practice, contingent on well-controlled external borders, can the basic rules of protection survive? Or are asylum and the principle of non-return to persecution (non-refoulement) at risk in a new international legal order? These are the issues addressed below.


Author(s):  
Ngoc Minh Trang Pham

After more than 50 years of existence and development, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has established itself as one of the significant players in the international community. This oldest as well as biggest international organization was believed to be the 5th most substantial economy in the world in 2020. Apart from contributing to the economic development of the region, ASEAN has also paid great attention to its political goals, one of which is to maintain and enhance peace, security and stability in the Southeast Asian region. With respect to this function, ASEAN has been excoriated for its ineffective performance and indolent reactions to regional precarious situations such as the Myanmar's Rohingya crisis and the chronic disputes in the East Sea. Hence, most criticisms called for a more compelling and active ASEAN in order to fulfill its role as a guardian of regional peace and security. Simon Chesterman, Dean of the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, posed a question: ``does ASEAN exist?'' In order to answer to such a broad question, this paper analyse the legal personality of ASEAN under the light of international law, which confirms the independence of ASEAN from member states as an actor of international system. Next, the paper examine the legal powers of ASEAN used to respond to regional security related issues. Finally, the paper establishes that ASEAN has legal obligation to settle any disputes that affect the peace and security of the region.


Author(s):  
Анатолий Капустин ◽  
Anatoliy Kapustin

A few very important features of financial law of international organizations were consider in present article. The author puts forward an idea that funding of international organizations activities is an important element of the international legal personality of international organizations, because it allows them to ensure the necessary independence while executing their international rights and obligations and the exercise of their assigned functions. The main categories of financial law of international organizations were examined in article: the concept and types of incomes and expenses, the concept of budget process of the international organization in accordance with two ways of funding of international organizations settled in the XX century. Special attention was paid to the analysis of the obligations of Member States of an international organization to contribute to the organization’s budget. For these purposes, the analysis of the positions of judges of the International Court of Justice and the opinions of scientists on this issue in the context of the proceedings on certain expenses of the United Nations. The author has come to conclusion about necessity of the further study of the problems of the financial law of international organizations.


Author(s):  
Schmalenbach Kirsten

This article examines the question of what is the legal basis for granting foreign international organizations legal personality under the law of a state which is neither a party to the founding instrument nor the host state. In the considered case the House of Lords was faced with the task of deciding on the legal personality status of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) after the organization instituted fraud proceedings against a former Director General in the United Kingdom. As the founding treaty of the AMF had not been incorporated into UK law, the organization was not recognized under domestic law. The House of Lords took recourse to the federal decree of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which had granted the AMF domestic legal personality.


Author(s):  
Palchetti Paolo

This judgment constitutes one of the most authoritative precedents on the question concerning responsibility of members for acts of the organization. The House of Lords denied the existence of a rule of general international law according to which, in the absence of an express provision in the constitutive treaty excluding the responsibility of the members, they are responsible, jointly and severally, for the breach by the organization of its obligations to third parties. According to the House of Lords, the separate legal personality of an international organization precludes that the members can be held responsible, due to their membership, for the conduct of the organization. The judgment also addresses the question of whether the effects stemming from the possession of a separate legal personality have to be determined by reference to international law or by reference to the domestic law of the forum state.


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