scholarly journals Ordering Institutions: The Judicial Function of the Permanent Court of International Justice in Relation to Interwar Organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 540-573
Author(s):  
Philip Burton

Abstract The Permanent Court played a vital role in the emergence of the law of international organizations. Existing accounts of this development focus on the Court’s conception of organizations. This paper argues that this interpretation underappreciates the controversy regarding the performance of the Permanent Court’s judicial function and its place within the inter-war institutional order. Crucially, it is claimed that initially the Permanent Court adopted the perspective of an authoritative interpreter, limiting the scope for recognising the autonomy of organizations. However, the Court began to adopt a more restrained conception of its judicial function and recognised that international organizations possessed a form of compétence de la compétence. This recognition paved the way for a ‘law of international organizations’ to emerge, but, crucially, was not based on any revised understanding of what it meant to ‘be’ an international organization, but rather, on what it meant to ‘be’ an international court.

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald McRae

On November 17, 2011, the UN General Assembly elected the members of the International Law Commission for the next five years. In the course of the quinquennium that was completed in August 2011 with the end of the sixty-third session, the Commission concluded four major topics on its agenda: the law of transboundary aquifers, the responsibility of international organizations, the effect of armed conflicts on treaties, and reservations to treaties. It was by any standard a substantial output. The beginning of a new quinquennium now provides an opportunity to assess what the Commission has achieved, to consider the way it operates, and to reflect on what lies ahead for it.


Author(s):  
Matthieu Aldjima Namountougou

SummaryAccording to the International Court of Justice, any person through whom an international organization acts is an agent of that organization. However, this definition is too broad. Any participation in the fulfilment of the mission of an international organization does not necessarily make the person an agent of the international organization. After detailing the particularities of the status of international agents, this article considers the issue of accountability for wrongs attributable to them. It recommends in this respect the development of a system of accountability that combines national and international justice responses with priority to the former based on the location of the offence.


Author(s):  
Jan Klabbers

This chapter reflects on the uncertainties regarding the question of why international organizations would be bound by international law. It places these uncertainties in the broader framework of a vague and ill-defined ‘turn to accountability’. As the chapter shows, international organizations are often held to account for wrongdoing without it being clear whether they have also violated an international legal obligation resting upon them. The chapter then discusses in some detail the 1980 WHO–Egypt advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding whether the WHO could close their Alexandria office and move it to Jordan. Afterwards, the chapter reviews several recent attempts to overcome the ‘basis of obligation’ problem in the law of international organizations, such as the putative constitutionalization of international law or international organizations, the adoption of accountability models, and the emergence of Global Administrative Law.


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):  
Edward Chukwuemeke Okeke

The conclusion makes the case that the jurisdictional immunities of States and international organizations are not only sustainable but also necessary for international relations and cooperation. Contrary to the polemic that immunity breeds impunity, jurisdictional immunities promote respect for international law rather than undermine it. Even where a State or an international organization is immune, it may still be responsible for a wrongful act. To be sure, immunities can be abused. However, abuse of immunity is a different question from the necessity of immunity. The book concludes with the submission that if the international community finds the international law of jurisdictional immunities of States and international organizations to be illegitimate or inadequate, then the proper course of action is to re-evaluate the goals served by the law.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Klabbers

AbstractThis article discusses the law and practice of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a little-known but important international organization. The article aims to illuminate what it is the IOM does; how it influences its member state practices while simultaneously working on member state assignments; and how this affects the dominant theory underpinning the law of international organizations, i.e., the theory of functionalism. The article concludes that the IOM takes functionalist thought to extremes, and in doing so makes visible the latter’s ideological nature.


1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tullio Treves

The Rules of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, adopted in October 1997 (together with the Resolution on Internal Judicial Practice and the Guidelines Concerning the Preparation and Presentation of Cases Before the Tribunal) follows the model of the Rules of the International Court of Justice with rather relevant differences. Some of these differences depend on the need of more expeditious and less expensive proceedings: in particular, the provisions introducing time limits and those in the Resolution on Internal Judicial Practice which eliminate in most cases the requirement of Notes by each judge. Others depend on the specific characteristics of the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. These include the provisions on intervention, on preliminary objections and proceedings, on provisional measures, on prompt release of vessels and crews, and on activities in the international seabed Area. In this category can also be included the provisions on the participation in proceedings by international organizations and natural and juridical persons.


2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Blokker

AbstractThe law of international organizations is a field of study full of themes with variations. With respect to a number of key chapters in this field, such as the legal status of international organizations, their institutional structure, powers, decision-making and decisions, sanctions, fundamental principles exist or are being developed. These principles or themes have a large number of variations in the rules and practice of individual organizations. Like in music, the variations in themselves may be interesting as such, but they can only be fully appreciated by not losing sight of the theme. Like in music, the themes in themselves may be interesting as such, but they can only be fully appreciated by also listening carefully to the multicoloured variations. This contribution is devoted to a central theme of the law of international organizations: the relationship between an international organization and its members. Already in the early days of existence of international organizations, this topic has given rise to numerous questions. Many of these have now been answered, but sometimes resurface in contemporary variations. In addition there are new questions. It is useful to first explore briefly the meaning of the word "members". The English word "member" and the French "membre" are both derived from the Latin word "membrum", which means "part of the body". This meaning is important because it indicates clearly that members are part of a whole – a fact which takes us straight to one of the core questions addressed in this article. Members of an international organization are not just members, after all – like the members of a bridge club or a gardening club. In most cases, the members of international organizations are states. How then can members of an international organization be members of a whole when in most cases those members are sovereign states, even if the concept of sovereignty of states is no longer as absolute at it used to be? This is one of the major questions within the field of the law of international organizations. In order to examine this question, this contribution is divided into two parts. Section I will concentrate on the role of members vis-à-vis international organizations. In Section II the focus will shift to the whole of which the members are part; this Section will briefly look at some of the questions involved in giving a certain amount of autonomy to this whole.


Author(s):  
Lorenzo Gasbarri

This chapter summarizes the main findings of the book. The concept of an international organization is defined by looking at the nature of the legal systems they develop. The notion of ‘dual legal nature’ describes how organizations create particular legal systems that derive from international law. This peculiar condition affects the law they produce, which is international and internal at the same time. The effects of the dual legal nature are discussed by analysing international responsibility, the law of treaties, and the validity of organizations’ acts. This conceptualization allows the development of a common legal framework applicable to all international organizations, despite their differences in terms of powers, membership, size, and other descriptive features. In particular, the most valuable consequence of this conceptualization is to rebut a frequent argumentative motif, under which organizations are either perceived as vehicles for member states’ interests or as autonomous entities.


Author(s):  
Lorenzo Gasbarri

Constitutionalism emerged as a reaction to functionalism to rebut the international nature of the relation between organizations and member states: member states are organs of the organization when they act in the fulfilment of its purposes; the law created by international organizations is purely internal law; the institutional veil is characterized by an impermeable opacity; the autonomy of the organization is maximal; the conduct of a member state acting in the institutional forum is not relevant as a matter of international law. This chapter describes the historical roots of this conceptualization and posits why under this perspective the rules of the organizations are internal law of each particular organization. Afterwards, it describes the flaws of this theory discussing the problems arising in terms of the principle of lex specialis and concerning the attribution of conduct to an international organization.


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