International organizations and dispute settlement: some issues, trends and prospects

Available in Russian


Author: Artur Gulasarian

DOI: 10.21128/2226-2059-2018-2-28-43

Keywords: disputes; international courts and tribunals; international organizations; non-judicial procedures of dispute resolution; state practice; UN International Law Commission

Abstract

Both the proliferation of international organizations and the increasing role they play in almost every field of international relations over the last decades has made the rise in the number of disputes involving international organizations inevitable. Based on an analysis of the texts of constituent instruments of a number of international organizations, international treaties, state practice, and contemporary doctrine of international law, this paper highlights the modes of dispute settlement involving international organizations (such as settlement of disputes between international organizations and member-states, settlement of disputes between international organizations and non-member states, settlement of disputes between international organizations and non-state actors, settlement of disputes between organs of international organizations, settlement of disputes between members of international organizations), reveals the key features of different procedures (judicial and non-judicial) of dispute settlement involving international organizations at both the universal and regional levels, identifies issues that need to be addressed within the context of particular procedures of dispute settlement, and assesses the prospects for their use. The paper also offers some insights into where the topic of “The settlement of international disputes to which international organizations are parties,” which was proposed for inclusion in the long-term program of work of the UN International Law Commission in 2016, will need to go in the future. In doing so, this paper argues that the topic meets the requirements for selection of new topics set by the International Law Commission and that it is ripe for codification and progressive development. This paper suggests that the existence of an adequate international system of dispute settlement involving international organizations is an essential means of ensuring the independent and proper functioning of such organizations.

About the author: Artur Gulasarian – Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D.) in Law, Senior Lecturer, Kutafin Moscow State Law University, Moscow, Russia.

Citation: Gulasarian A. (2018) Mezhdunarodnye organizatsii i razreshenie mezhduna­rodnykh sporov: nekotorye problemy, tendentsii i perspektivy razvitiya [International organizations and dispute settlement: some issues, trends and prospects]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, vol.8, no.2, pp.28–43. (In Russian).

References

Alfredsson G., Ring R. (eds.) (2001) The Inspection Panel of the World Bank: A Different Complaints Procedure, The Hague; Boston, MA: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

Bedjaoui M. (1991) International Law: Achievements and Prospects, Paris: Unesco; Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

Blokker N.M., Schermers H.G. (2001) Proliferation of International Organizations: Legal Issues, The Hague; Boston, MA: Kluwer Law International.

Borchardt K.-D. (2010) The ABC of European Union Law, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

Cassese A. (2012) The International Court of Justice: It is High Time to Restyle the Respected Old Lady. In: Cassese A. (ed.) Realizing Utopia: The Future Role of International Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.239–249.

Casteleiro A.D. (2016) The International Responsibility of the European Union: From Competence to Normative Control, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Charnovitz S. Judicial Independence in the World Trade Organization. In: Boisson de Chazournez L., Romano C.P.R., Mackenzie R. (eds.) International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement: Trends and Prospects, Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, pp.219–240.

Chinkin C., Mackenzie R. (2012) Intergovernmental Organizations as “Friends of the Court”. In: Boisson de Chazournez L., Romano C.P.R., Mackenzie R. (eds.) International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement: Trends and Prospects, Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, pp.135–164.

Fedorov V.N. (2007) Organizatsiya Ob’edinyonnykh Natsiy, drugie mezhdu­narodnye organizatsii I ikh rol’ v XXI veke [United Nations, other international organizations and their role in the twenty-first century], Moscow: Logos. (In Russian).

Foltea M. (2012) International Organizations in WTO Dispute Settlement: How Much Institutional Sensitivity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gulasarian A.S. (2015) Mezhdunarodno-pravovaya implementatsiya norm ob otvetstvennosti mezhdunarodnykh organizatsiy: monografiya [International legal implementation of the norms on the responsibility of international organizations: monograph], K.A.Bekyasheva (ed.), Moscow: Statut. (In Russian).

Kapustin A.Ya. (2010) Mezhdunarodnye organzatsii v globaliziruyushchemsya mire [International organizations in a globalizing world], Moscow: Russian University of Peoples’ Frienship.

Metzger S.D. (1954) Settlement of International Disputes by Non-Judicial Methods. The American Journal of International Law, vol.48, no.3, pp.408–420.

Naudé Fourie A. (2009) The World Bank Inspection Panel and Quasi-Judicial Oversight: In Search of the “Judicial Spirit” in Public International Law, Utrecht: Eleven International Publishing.

Oppong R.F. (2011) Legal Aspects of Economic Integration in Africa, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Orellana M.A. (2002) The Swordfish Dispute between the EU and Chile at the ITLOS and the WTO. Nordic Journal of International Law, vol.71, no.1, pp.55–81.

Ouguergouz F. (2012) The African Court of Justice and Human Rights. In: Yusuf A.A., Ouguergouz F. (eds.) The African Union: Legal and Institutional Framework: A Manual on the Pan-African Organization, Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, pp.119–142.

Reinisch A. (ed.) (2013) The Privileges and Immunities of International Organizations in Domestic Courts, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Reinisch A. (ed.). (2010) Challenging Acts of International Organizations Before National Courts, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rogoveanu C. (2010) Features of WTO Dispute Settlement: The Standing of the EU. Romanian Journal of European Affairs, vol.10, no.3, pp.30–37.

Romano C.P.R. (2002) International Organizations and the International Judicial Process: An Overview. In: Boisson de Chazournez L., Romano C.P.R., Mackenzie R. (eds.) International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement: Trends and Prospects, Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, pp.3–36.

Rosenne Sh. (2006) The Law and Practice of the International Court, 1920–2005. Vol.2: Jurisdiction, 4th ed., Leiden; Boston, MA: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

Schmalenbach K. (2011) Dispute Settlement. In: Klabbers J., Wallendahl Å. (eds.) Research Handbook on the Law of International Organizations, Cheltenham; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp.251–284.

Shihata I.F.I. (2000) The World Bank Inspection Panel: In Practice, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank.

Sureda A.R. (2002) Process Integrity and Institutional Independence in International Organizations: The Inspection Panel and the Sanctions Committee of the World Bank. In: Boisson de Chazournez L., Romano C.P.R., Mackenzie R. (eds.) International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement: Trends and Prospects, Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, pp.165–194.

Sztucki J. (1997) International Organizations as Parties to Contentious Proceedings before the International Court of Justice? In: Muller A.S., Raič D., Thuránsky J.M. (eds.) The International Court of Justice. Its Future Role after Fifty Years, The Hague; Boston, MA; London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, pp.141–168.

Tino E. (2015) Settlement of Disputes by International Courts and Tribunals of Regional International Organizations. In: Virzo R., Ingravallo I. (eds.) Evolutions in the Law of International Organizations, Leiden; Boston, MA: Brill Nijhoff, pp.468–508.