International Organizations: the Untouchables?

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Blokker
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
National Courts

Immunity rules belong to the traditional standard rules of international organizations. It has long been accepted that international organizations and their staff need to enjoy immunity from the jurisdiction of national courts. This understanding is generally founded on the principle of functional necessity: international organizations need immunity in order to be able to perform their functions. However, the principle of the immunity of international organizations is increasingly criticized: if national courts cannot exercise jurisdiction over international organizations, who can? After outlining the intentions behind convening this Forum, this paper will discuss the origin of the immunity rules of international organizations. Next, it will give a brief overview of the codification of such rules, both in the 1940s and in recent years. Finally, it will present some observations on the question of whether there is a need to ‘update’ or revise the current immunity rules of international organizations.

Features of ILM for the 1960's

1969 ◽  
Vol 8 (I1) ◽  
pp. xi-xii
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Military Force ◽  
International Arbitration ◽  
National Courts ◽  
The Developed Countries

The contents of ILM for the period from 1962 to 1969 reflect several significant developments: (1) the entry on the international scene of many new countries and their establishment of relations with the developed countries, particularly in the fields of commerce and trade and of investment; (2) the prevalence of armed conflict and the use of military force in the unsettled conditions resulting from the decolonization process and from continued antagonisms between the superpowers; (3) the pervasive role of international organizations, both global and regional, general and specialized; and (4) the continued predominance of national courts in the judicial consideration of questions of international law and the shift from general to specialized tribunals in the resolution of disputes by international arbitration and adjudication.

Part III The Current International Law of State Immunity, 14 Immunity from Adjudication: The Employment Exception in respect of (1) A Foreign State and (2) An International Organization

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fox Hazel ◽  
Webb Philippa
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
National Courts ◽  
State Immunity ◽  
Foreign State ◽  
Standard Terms ◽  
Sick Pay

This chapter examines the exception for employment as it pertains to States and international organizations. Whilst the employment — its terms for performance, remuneration, including sick pay, overtime, and other benefits, notice and procedures for dismissal or termination — may be provided in an individual contract or imported from standard terms of employment or collective bargaining agreements, there may also be a considerable overlay of statutory or mandatory provisions that the national labour law imposes or in respect of which increasingly the forum State has assumed regional or international law obligations. There are also certain generally accepted practices relating to employment to be taken into account in considering the scope of the immunity of a foreign State and international organization as regards employment claims brought before the national courts of another State.

Privileges and Immunities of the World Health Organization

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-372
Author(s):  
Gian Luca Burci ◽  
Egle Granziera
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Added Value ◽  
World Health ◽  
National Courts ◽  
The World ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Health Organization

This paper presents a brief overview of the World Health Organization’s experience with privileges and immunities, focusing on the sources of its privileges and immunities and the challenges encountered in asserting them and securing their respect. This overview will demonstrate how complex and sometimes elusive the legal protection afforded to the WHO can be. Although the rationale for the WHO’s privileges and immunities is constitutionally founded on the notion of functional necessity,1 the scope and limits of its functions can be blurred or shifting. While the WHO has not faced the dramatic challenges to or denials of its privileges and immunities that other organizations have encountered, the trend of progressive erosion of legal protection in the name of accountability, democratic control by national courts, the protection of human rights and shifting perceptions of the ‘added value’ of international organizations may eventually require a conscious and strategic revision by the international community of the model of international cooperation represented by international organizations.

Jurisdictional Immunities of States and International Organizations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Chukwuemeke Okeke
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
International Courts ◽  
National Courts ◽  
State Immunity ◽  
International Legal Order ◽  
The Law ◽  
Diplomatic Immunity ◽  
Heads Of State ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Conceptual Confusion

This book covers the relationship between the jurisdictional immunities of States and international organizations, addressing their similarities and dissimilarities. Their relationship with diplomatic immunity is also examined. It considers that the immunity of international organizations was historically conceived in terms of diplomatic immunity and State immunity. The major aim of this book is to clarify the conceptual confusion that has often bedeviled the understanding of the law of the (different but interrelated) jurisdictional immunities of both States and international organizations. The approach is to holistically analyze and synthesize select and relevant opinions of international courts and national courts. To achieve this, the book focuses more on what the law is than on what it should be. An understanding of the law is more useful to a practitioner than a criticism of it. The book is not an exegesis on everything immunity. The distinct jurisdictional immunities of heads of State and of diplomats are beyond the scope of this book, and are only tangentially examined. The book concludes by making the case that the jurisdictional immunities of States and international organizations are not only sustainable but also necessary for the international legal order to foster international relations and cooperation. The author intends to position the book to be of use both to scholars and to practicing lawyers and legal advisers in government and international organizations, as well as to lawyers whose practice concerns issues and laws of privileges and immunities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document