International organization

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The offices of the United Nations in Geneva (Switzerland), which is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world Palace of Nations Geneva 20102014 02.jpg
The offices of the United Nations in Geneva (Switzerland), which is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world

An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own legal personality, such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and BRICS. [2] [3] International organizations are composed of primarily member states, but may also include other entities, such as other international organizations, firms, and nongovernmental organizations. [4] Additionally, entities (including states) may hold observer status. [5]

Contents

Examples for international organizations include: UN General Assembly, World Trade Organization, African Development Bank, UN Economic and Social Council, UN Security Council, Asian Development Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Monetary Fund, International Finance Corporation, Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Environment Programme. [6]

Terminology

Scottish law professor James Lorimer has been credited with coining the term "international organization" in a 1871 article in the Revue de Droit International et de Legislation Compare. [7] Lorimer use the term frequently in his two-volume Institutes of the Law of Nations (1883, 1884). Other early uses of the term were by law professor Walther Schucking in works published in 1907, 1908 and 1909, and by political science professor Paul S. Reinsch in 1911. [7] In 1935, Pitman B. Potter defined international organization as "an association or union of nations established or recognized by them for the purpose of realizing a common end". He distinguished between bilateral and multilateral organizations on one end and customary or conventional organizations on the other end. [8] In his 1922 book An Introduction to the Study of International Organization, Potter argued that international organization was distinct from "international intercourse" (all relations between states), "international law" (which lacks enforcement) and world government. [9]

International Organizations are sometimes referred to as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), to clarify the distinction from international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), which are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate internationally. These include international nonprofit organizations such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement, International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières, as well as lobby groups that represent the interests of multinational corporations.

IGOs are established by a treaty that acts as a charter creating the group. Treaties are formed when lawful representatives (governments) of several states go through a ratification process, providing the IGO with an international legal personality. Intergovernmental organizations are an important aspect of public international law.

Intergovernmental organizations in a legal sense should be distinguished from simple groupings or coalitions of states, such as the G7 or the Quartet. Such groups or associations have not been founded by a constituent document and exist only as task groups. Intergovernmental organizations must also be distinguished from treaties. Many treaties (such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade before the establishment of the World Trade Organization) do not establish an independent secretariat and instead rely on the parties for their administration, for example by setting up a joint committee. Other treaties have established an administrative apparatus which was not deemed to have been granted binding legal authority. [10] The broader concept wherein relations among three or more states are organized according to certain principles they hold in common is multilateralism. [11]

Types and purpose

Intergovernmental organizations differ in function, membership, and membership criteria. They have various goals and scopes, often outlined in the treaty or charter. Some IGOs developed to fulfill a need for a neutral forum for debate or negotiation to resolve disputes. Others developed to carry out mutual interests with unified aims to preserve peace through conflict resolution and better international relations, promote international cooperation on matters such as environmental protection, to promote human rights, to promote social development (education, health care), to render humanitarian aid, and to economic development. Some are more general in scope (the United Nations) while others may have subject-specific missions (such as INTERPOL or the International Telecommunication Union and other standards organizations). Common types include:

Regional organizations

In regional organizations like the European Union, African Union, NATO, ASEAN and Mercosur, there are restrictions on membership due to factors such as geography or political regimes. To enter the European Union (EU), the states require different criteria; member states need to be European, liberal-democratic political system, and be a capitalist economy. [12]

The oldest regional organization is the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna.

Participation and involvement

There are several different reasons a state may choose membership in an intergovernmental organization. But there are also reasons membership may be rejected.

Reasons for participation:

Reasons for rejecting membership:

Privileges and immunities

Intergovernmental organizations are provided with privileges and immunities that are intended to ensure their independent and effective functioning. They are specified in the treaties that give rise to the organization (such as the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court), which are normally supplemented by further multinational agreements and national regulations (for example the International Organizations Immunities Act in the United States). The organizations are thereby immune from the jurisdiction of national courts. Certain privileges and immunities are also specified in the Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character of 1975,. [14] which however has so far not been signed by 35 states and is thus not yet in force (status: 2022). [15]

Rather than by national jurisdiction, legal accountability is intended to be ensured by legal mechanisms that are internal to the intergovernmental organization itself [16] and access to administrative tribunals. In the course of many court cases where private parties tried to pursue claims against international organizations, there has been a gradual realization that alternative means of dispute settlement are required as states have fundamental human rights obligations to provide plaintiffs with access to court in view of their right to a fair trial. [17] [18] : 77  Otherwise, the organizations' immunities may be put in question in national and international courts. [18] : 72  Some organizations hold proceedings before tribunals relating to their organization to be confidential, and in some instances have threatened disciplinary action should an employee disclose any of the relevant information. Such confidentiality has been criticized as a lack of transparency. [19]

The immunities also extend to employment law. [20] [21] In this regard, immunity from national jurisdiction necessitates that reasonable alternative means are available to effectively protect employees' rights; [22] in this context, a first instance Dutch court considered an estimated duration of proceedings before the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization of 15 years to be too long. [23] An international organization does not pay taxes, is difficult to prosecute in court and is not obliged to provide information to any parliament. [24]

The United Nations focuses on five main areas: "maintaining peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, supporting sustainable development, and upholding international law". [25] UN agencies, such as UN Relief and Works Agency, are generally regarded as international organizations in their own right. Additionally, the United Nations has Specialized Agencies, which are organizations within the United Nations System that have their member states (often nearly identical to the UN Member States) and are governed independently by them; examples include international organizations that predate the UN, such as the International Telecommunication Union, and the Universal Postal Union, as well as organizations that were created after the UN such as the World Health Organization (which was made up of regional organizations such as PAHO that predated the UN). A few UN special agencies are very centralized in policy and decision-making, but some are decentralized; for example, the country-based projects or missions' directors and managers can decide what they want to do in the fields. [26]

The UN agencies have a variety of tasks based on their specialization and their interests. The UN agencies provide different kinds of assistance to low-income countries and middle-income countries, and this assistance would be a good resource for developmental projects in developing countries. The UN has to protect against any kind of human rights violation, and in the UN system, some specialized agencies, like ILO and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), work in the human rights' protection fields. [27] The UN agency, ILO, is trying to end any kind of discrimination in the work field and child labor; after that, this agency promotes fundamental labor rights and to get safe and secure for the laborers. [28] United Nations Environment Program(UNEP) is one of the UN's (United Nations) agencies and is an international organization that coordinates U.N. activities on the environment. [29]

History

An early prominent example of an international organization is the Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815, which was an international diplomatic conference to reconstitute the European political order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon. States then became the main decision makers who preferred to maintain their sovereignty as of 1648 at the Westphalian treaty that closed the 30 Years' War in Europe.

The first and oldest international organization—being established employing a treaty, and creating a permanent secretariat, with a global membership—was the International Telecommunication Union (founded in 1865). The first general international organization—addressing a variety of issues—was the League of Nations, founded on 10 January 1920 with a principal mission of maintaining world peace after World War I. The United Nations followed this model after World War II. This was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. [30] Currently, the UN is the main IGO with its arms such as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the General Assembly (UNGA), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Secretariat (UNSA), the Trusteeship Council (UNTC) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Expansion and growth

When defined as "organizations with at least three state parties, a permanent headquarters or secretariat, as well as regular meetings and budgets", the number of IGOs in the world increased from about 60 in 1940 to about 350 in 1980, after which it has remained roughly constant. [31]

See also

Related Research Articles

In international relations, intergovernmentalism treats states as the primary actors in the integration process. Intergovernmentalist approaches claim to be able to explain both periods of radical change in the European Union because of converging governmental preferences and periods of inertia because of diverging national interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations</span> Intergovernmental self-regulatory body

The United Nations (UN) is a diplomatic and political international organization with the intended purpose of maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and serving as a center for coordinating the actions of member nations. It is widely recognised as the world's largest international organization. The UN is headquartered in New York City, in international territory with certain privileges extraterritorial to the United States, and the UN has other offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague, where the International Court of Justice is headquartered at the Peace Palace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Economic and Social Council</span> One of six principal organs of the UN

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized agencies, the eight functional commissions, and the five regional commissions under its jurisdiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Intellectual Property Organization</span> Specialised agency of the United Nations

The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to promote and protect intellectual property (IP) across the world by cooperating with countries as well as international organizations. It began operations on 26 April 1970 when the convention entered into force. The current Director General is Singaporean Daren Tang, former head of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, who began his term on 1 October 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common Foreign and Security Policy</span> Organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union

The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is the organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union (EU) for mainly security and defence diplomacy and actions. CFSP deals only with a specific part of the EU's external relations, which domains include mainly Trade and Commercial Policy and other areas such as funding to third countries, etc. Decisions require unanimity among member states in the Council of the European Union, but once agreed, certain aspects can be further decided by qualified majority voting. Foreign policy is chaired and represented by the EU's High Representative, currently Josep Borrell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties</span> International agreement

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) is an international agreement that regulates treaties among sovereign states.

In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal. Multilateralism is based on the principles of inclusivity, equality, and cooperation, and aims to foster a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world. Middle powers play a crucial role in the international system by promoting multilateralism and internationalism.

European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union and its policies.

A supranational union is a type of international organization and political union that is empowered to directly exercise some of the powers and functions otherwise reserved to states. A supranational organization involves a greater transfer of or limitation of state sovereignty than other kinds of international organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of the European Union</span>

Although there has been a large degree of integration between European Union member states, foreign relations is still a largely intergovernmental matter, with the 27 states controlling their own relations to a large degree. However, with the Union holding more weight as a single entity, there are at times attempts to speak with one voice, notably on trade and energy matters. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy personifies this role.

A continental union is a regional organization which facilitates pan-continental integration. Continental unions vary from collaborative intergovernmental organizations, to supranational politico-economic unions. Continental unions are a relatively new type of political entity in the history of human government. Throughout most of human history, political organization has been at the local level and in more recent centuries, the sub-regional ("regional")/sub-continental level ; however, starting with the advent of better transportation, weapons and communication there was for the first time the ability for a union of member states to organize at the continental level. After the devastation of the First and Second World Wars in the middle of the twentieth century, Europe began to slowly integrate with the founding of the "European Community", which became a political union covering much of the European continent.

The International Federation for Human Rights is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international human rights organization worldwide after Anti-Slavery International and Save the Children. As of 2020, the organization is made up of a federation of 192 organizations from 112 countries, including Israel and Palestine, including Ligue des droits de l'homme in over 100 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional organization</span> International organizations that act within a specific region

Regional organizations (ROs) are, in a sense, international organizations (IOs), as they incorporate international membership and encompass geopolitical entities that operationally transcend a single nation state. However, their membership is characterized by boundaries and demarcations characteristic to a defined and unique geography, such as continents, or geopolitics, such as economic blocs. They have been established to foster cooperation and political and economic integration or dialogue among states or entities within a restrictive geographical or geopolitical boundary. They both reflect common patterns of development and history that have been fostered since the end of World War II as well as the fragmentation inherent in globalization, which is why their institutional characteristics vary from loose cooperation to formal regional integration. Most ROs tend to work alongside well-established multilateral organizations such as the United Nations. While in many instances a regional organization is simply referred to as an international organization, in many others it makes sense to use the term regional organization to stress the more limited scope of a particular membership.

1 These countries are currently not participating in the EU's single market (EEA), but the EU has common external Customs Union agreements with Turkey, Andorra and San Marino. Monaco participates in the EU customs union through its relationship with France; its ports are administered by the French. Vatican City has a customs union in effect with Italy.
2 Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City are not members of Schengen, but act as such via their open borders with France and Italy, respectively.
3 Switzerland is not an official member of EEA but has bilateral agreements largely with same content, making it virtual member.

Canada is a member of various international organizations and forums. Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and formed the North American Aerospace Defense Command together with the United States in 1958. The country has membership in the World Trade Organization, the Five Eyes, the G7 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The country joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990, and seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC). Canada ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and seven principal UN human rights conventions and covenants since then. As of 2023, Canada is a signatory to 15 free trade agreements with 51 different countries, and has diplomatic and consular offices in over 270 locations in approximately 180 countries.

Multistakeholder governance is a practice of governance that employs bringing multiple stakeholders together to participate in dialogue, decision making, and implementation of responses to jointly perceived problems. The principle behind such a structure is that if enough input is provided by multiple types of actors involved in a question, the eventual consensual decision gains more legitimacy, and can be more effectively implemented than a traditional state-based response. While the evolution of multistakeholder governance is occurring principally at the international level, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are domestic analogues.

References

  1. ↑ (in French) François Modoux, "La Suisse engagera 300 millions pour rénover le Palais des Nations", Le Temps , Friday 28 June 2013, p. 9.
  2. ↑ Gaja, Giorgio (9 December 2011). "Articles on the Responsibility of International Organisations". Audiovisual Library of International Law. United Nations - Office of Legal Affairs. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  3. ↑ Bouwhuis, Stephen (1 January 2012). "The International Law Commission's Definition of International Organizations". International Organizations Law Review. 9 (2): 451–465. doi:10.1163/15723747-00902004. ISSN   1572-3747.
  4. ↑ Koremenos, Barbara; Lipson, Charles; Snidal, Duncan (2001). "The Rational Design of International Institutions" (PDF). International Organization. 55 (4): 761–799. doi:10.1162/002081801317193592. ISSN   0020-8183. JSTOR   3078615. S2CID   41593236 . Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 April 2023.
  5. ↑ "International Organizations - Research Guide International Law". Peace Palace Library. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  6. ↑ Our World in Data team (2023) - “Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies” Published online at OurWorldinData.org.
  7. 1 2 Potter, Pitman B. (1945). "Origin of the Term International Organization". American Journal of International Law. 39 (4): 803–806. doi:10.1017/S0002930000140515. ISSN   0002-9300.
  8. ↑ Potter, Pitman B. (1935). "The Classification of International Organizations, I". American Political Science Review. 29 (2): 215. doi:10.2307/1947502. ISSN   0003-0554. JSTOR   1947502. S2CID   251095046.
  9. ↑ Potter, Pitman B. (1922). Introduction to the Study of International Organization. The Century Company. pp. 1–5. ISBN   978-1-4067-2003-7. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024.
  10. ↑ Roger, Charles B.; Rowan, Sam S. (2022). "Analyzing international organizations: How the concepts we use affect the answers we get" (PDF). The Review of International Organizations. 17 (3): 597–625. doi:10.1007/s11558-021-09432-2. hdl: 10230/49072 . ISSN   1559-744X. S2CID   255317045.
  11. ↑ Lavelle, Kathryn C. (2020). The Challenges of Multilateralism. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0-300-25232-3. OCLC   1149484630.
  12. ↑ Yesilada, Birol A. (2002). "Turkey's Candidacy for EU Membership". Middle East Journal. 56 (1): 94–111. ISSN   0026-3141. JSTOR   4329722.
  13. 1 2 Muntschick, Johannes, ed. (2022). Regionalism in Africa and External Partners: Uneven Relationships and (Un)Intended Effects. Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-10702-3. ISBN   978-3-031-10701-6. S2CID   252751858.
  14. ↑ "Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character. Vienna, 14 March 1975" (PDF). un.org. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  15. ↑ "Status: Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character. Vienna, 14 March 1975". un.org. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  16. ↑ Parish, Matthew (2010). "An essay on the accountability of international organizations". International Organizations Law Review. 7 (2): 277–342. doi:10.1163/157237410X543332. SSRN   1651784.
  17. ↑ Heitz, André (November 2005). "UN Special number 645". Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. The French court said... The right to a day in court prevails over jurisdictional immunity
  18. 1 2 Reinisch, August; Weber, Ulf Andreas (2004). "In the shadow of Waite and Kennedy – the jurisdictional immunity of international organizations, the individual's right of access to the courts and administrative tribunals as alternative means of dispute settlement". International Organizations Law Review. 1 (1): 59–110. doi:10.1163/1572374043242330. Pdf. Archived 2013-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ The success of which we cannot speak Archived 2013-10-19 at the Wayback Machine , brettonwoodlaw.com, 11 September 2013
  20. ↑ Reinisch, August (July 2008). "The immunity of international organizations and the jurisdiction of their administrative tribunals". Chinese Journal of International Law . 7 (2): 285–306. doi:10.1093/chinesejil/jmn020.
  21. ↑ "Van der Peet vs. Germany". Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  22. ↑ Waite and Kennedy v. Germany (1999) Archived 2013-08-25 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ EPO: no immunity in labor cases? Archived 2013-10-19 at the Wayback Machine , dvdw.nl, 27 August 2013
  24. ↑ "International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD): Die Migrations-Manager" (in German). 19 May 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  25. ↑ Nations, United. "Our Work". United Nations. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  26. ↑ Alesani, Daniele (17 December 2013). "International Institutions. Classification and main characteristics". Management of International Institutions and NGOs: Frameworks, practices and challenges. Routledge. p. 24. ISBN   9780415706650.
  27. ↑ Blyth-Kubota, Fiona (16 April 1992). "Specialised Agencies and Other United Nations Organs Working in the Field of Human Rights". Nordic Journal of International Law. 61–62 (1–4): 193–195. doi:10.1163/15718107-90000022. ISSN   0902-7351.
  28. ↑ The ILO at Work. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022– via YouTube.
  29. ↑ Environment, U. N. (5 October 2023). "Climate action | UNEP - UN Environment Programme". www.unep.org. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  30. ↑ Charter of the United Nations and Statute of the International Court of Justice
  31. ↑ Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, Mette (1 April 2020). "Death of international organizations. The organizational ecology of intergovernmental organizations, 1815–2015". The Review of International Organizations. 15 (2): 339–370. doi: 10.1007/s11558-018-9340-5 . hdl: 1814/60598 . ISSN   1559-744X.

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