Legal Aspects of International Organizations – serie

As was true for previous editions of this book, the present edition offers the non-specialist reader: the politician, diplomat, journalist or student of international law and relations – a guide and introduction to the International Court of Justice; what it is and how it works.The step by step explanation of how a case is tried is still based on the Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua case, due to the fact that virtually every procedural situation that exists played a role in that case, as well as to the continuing influence of that case on the role of the Court.However, much has happened since the last edition appeared in 1995. The Court has experienced the most active period in its history, and this new edition takes full account of the Court’s activities and efforts to adapt itself to the new requirements and challenges of the present century.

This book establishes a framework for analysis of the institutional and normative character of the WTO by locating the organization in a broader theory of international institutional law and in determining the basis for the conferral and exercise of powers in relation to its executive, legislative and adjudicative functions. The WTO is also read as an international regime in order to go beyond its formal legal and constitutional bases and to observe the Members’ practice in the context of the former semi-institutionalised GATT treaty regime with which it retains strong links. WTO decision-making, which underpins and informs its institutional and normative acts, is analysed in order to better understand the dynamics of the organization. Normative developments in the WTO are reviewed from the perspective of the creation, maintenance and revision of legally binding and non-binding or ‘soft’ law norms, in the sense of principles, rules and standards contained in primary treaty rules, which set out the rights and obligations of the Members, and subsidiary rule-making activity by WTO bodies.

The United Nations Security Council is meant to be the central international organ for maintaining international peace and security, and it has a profound impact on the rights and duties of states under international law. However, it has been severely criticized throughout its existence. This book examines the role of international law in its decisions and decision-making process since the end of the Cold War, with the principle of legality as theoretical framework. It explores the limits that international law places on the Security Council, i.e. what it is allowed to demand of and impose on states. More importantly, however, this study provides great insight into how states use international legal arguments in the Council’s decision-making process, and whether the Security Council has in practice respected and observed these legal limits. Selected case studies include Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, Haiti, East Timor and international terrorism.

The United Nations began as an alliance during World War II. Eventually, however, the UN came to approximate a universal organization - i.e., open to and aspiring to include all States. This presents a legal question, for Article 4 of the Charter contains substantive criteria to limit admission of States to the UN and no formal amendment has touched that part of the Charter. This book gives an up-to-date account of admission to the UN, from the 1950s ‘logjam’ through on-going controversies like Kosovo and Taiwan. With reference to Charter law, the book considers how Article 4 came to accommodate universality and what the future of a universal organization in a world of politically diverse States might be.

Drawing on a mix of international academic and field expert work, this book presents and analyses contemporary state-building efforts. It offers studies on the theoretical and practical foundations and causes of state-building, identifies the role and responsibilities of key actors and points to vital issues which merit specific attention in state-building undertakings. The book offers lessons for the future of state-building relevant to both practitioners and the academic community.

What sets the tax treatment of the international civil servants apart are the legal considerations derived from public international law. Often the matter is approached from the perspective of privileges and immunities. However, when regarded as a concern with the equal pay for equal work it boils down to employment conditions that need to be satisfied by international organisations due to the peculiar legal setting in which international civil servants discharge their duties. By adding a perspective from the jurisprudence of international (administrative) tribunals to the current scholarship, the present study – the first of its kind - purports to contribute to a better understanding of the matter of taxation of the salary, emoluments and pensions of employees of international organizations.

Because of their increasing prevalence and diversity, International Organizations (IOs) are one of the most striking legal phenomena in contemporary international law. Evolutions in the Law of International Organizations, is a collection of essays discussing the ever-changing nature of IOs. It covers all the many considerable practical evolutions in the law of, offers a discussion of theoretical issues and proposes solutions to many crucial problems related to these institutional developments. The book explores controversial institutional issues arising from recent developments in the complex international practice of IOs and includes contributions about the definition of IOs, the role of "soft" IOs and regional IOs, the reformation of international financial institutions, and the liability of IOs for their actions, among others.

Since 1945, the United Nations has had an internal justice system to handle internal disputes and examine employee conformity with its rules of governance. Based on an exhaustive analysis of 3,067 judgements, advisory opinions, and General Assembly debates on the issue, The Internal Justice of the United Nations offers an unparalleled account of the system’s effectiveness and shortcomings over its seventy year history.

International organizations are typically intergovernmental in nature and endowed with a bipolar institutional structure where organs of States are usually juxtaposed with the Secretariat. On these premises, in Non-Governmental Interests in Regional Organizations: The Role of Parliamentary, Socio-Economic and Territorial Institutions Elisa Tino aims at analysing the unexplored phenomenon of institutional multipolarism of regional organizations, namely the trend to establish institutions representing non-governmental interests. Particularly, illustrating their diffusion in various geographic areas, explaining rationales underlying their establishment and investigating their institutional aspects, Elisa Tino pinpoints the contribution of these institutions to the development of regional organizations both according to the functionalist approach and the constitutionalist one. Thus, she aims at providing food for thought in the study of international organizations.

In 1999, the Alliance mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. Around the same period, allegations were made regarding its involvement in human trafficking and forced prostitution in Bosnia-Herzegovina. A decade later, NATO airplanes hit a fuel truck causing significant civilian casualties in Kunduz, Afghanistan. After more than 60 years of existence and a track-record of more than 30 missions performed worldwide, it is surprising that there is still uncertainty on the scope and content of NATO’s responsibility for wrongful conduct during its military operations. This timely book deals with the international responsibility of NATO during military operations. It examines, the status of the Alliance, the existence of international obligations and conditions of attribution of conduct in NATO.

Reform discourse about the United Nations Security Council gives every reason to believe that flaws in its legal and institutional design prevent the Council from adequately meeting its responsibility to maintain or restore international peace and security - in part by allowing the Council to act in an ad hoc and unprincipled manner. In Towards a more accountable United Nations Security Council, Carolyn Evans argues that enhanced accountability of the Council, and corresponding evolution of practice, are feasible, salutary changes towards the Council better answering its raison d'être. Discussion proceeds by probing the why, to whom, for what, and how, of Council accountability - four corners of concerns central to seeing any actor held accountable.

This book explores the independence of international civil servants across various intergovernmental institutions. With rich historical insights and in-depth analysis, Tavadian uncovers the complex evolution of this independence, from its early days to contemporary challenges and practices. Drawing on his vast experience and meticulous research, he critically assesses the essential role of international civil service independence in ensuring effective international cooperation and proposes concrete solutions for strengthening it. An indispensable resource for scholars, policymakers, and legal practitioners, it sheds light on the nuanced dynamics that underpin the operation and integrity of international organizations.

This book is the first treatise in English to present an overall functional necessity approach to the study of the legal position of intergovernmental organizations. According to this approach, an international organization is entitled to (no more than) what is necessary for the exercise of its functions in the fulfillment of its purposes. The book embodies a three-step analysis that links an organization's legal status (personality/ capacity/powers) and immunities to the functions and purposes of the organization. The book also reviews existing methods of counterbalancing organizational immunities and includes the International Tin Council litigation as a case study.With a Foreword by Sir Robert Jennings.“It is a book which deserves a place in specialized international law collections, and certainly on the shelves of anyone, be they a government or private party, who has any legal dealings with international organizations.” —Maurice Mendelson, Book Review, XXIII(4) Law Books in Review 159 (1996)