INTERNATIONAL

ORGANIZATIONS

PhDr. Dagmar Nováková, PhD.

terminology
International

 Intergovernmental / interstate - when

describing activity conducted between two
sovereign states and their official
govermental representatives
(war, diplomacy, relations of any kind)
- state and governement-oriented
understanding
terminology
 Transnational = include activities between
individuals and groups in one state and
individuals and groups in another state

 Transgovernmental = connections between

one branch of government in one state and a
branch of governement in another state which
do not go through the normal foreign policy-
making channels
Dual meaning
 Relations at international level
= (stability, durability and cohesiveness)

 Relations at individual level

= (sporadic, ephemeral, unstable)

- Both are not totally random and chaotic

but are organized
Dual meaning
 Institutions - one form of the organization of
international relations
= the collective forms or basic structure of social
organization as established by law or by human
tradition (trade, commerce, diplomacy, conferences,
international organizations);
 International organisations - represents a form of
institution that refers to a formal system of rules and
objectives, a rationalized administrative instrument
(constitutions, physical equipment, machines,
emblems, letterhead stationery, staff, hierarchy etc.)
History
 Ancient times
 The Middle Ages (God-given natural law
above mankind)
 1648 Peace of Westphalia (end of 30 years
war) laid the basis for the sovereign state
system in Europe – rest of the world
(territoriality, non-intervention, sovereign equality)
4 preconditions of sovereign
state system
1. the existence of a number of states functioning as
independent political unit
2. a substantial measure of contact between these
states
3. an awareness of problems that arise from states´ co-
existence
4. recognition of the need for creation of institutional
devices and systemathic methods for regulating their
relation with each other
History
 1776 independence of USA and 1789 French
revolution – noticeable effects on
international relations
- state is an instrument of popular will
 1815 Vienna Congress - diplomacy become
an accepted mode of regular peaceful
relationships

 Meetings in time of peace to PREVENT war

19th century – fertile ground in
Europe for IO, functional approach
 Awareness of the problems of
states´coexistence
 Recognition of the need for means different
from already used to regulate relationships

 2nd half of the 19th century (century of

comparative peace since defeat of Napoleon,
relatively stable system of sovereign states in
Europe) rise of IOs
2 assumptions
Assumptions of creation of IO

 economic
 political

Lack of political asssumptions could cause that

IO were not created even when there were
economic assumptions
Economic and social matters
 Growth of international cooperation
 Popularization of state
 Industrial develoment
 Improvement in communication
 International control over the river – Rhine,
Elbe,Danube
Internalization of European system

5 steps:
 1783 international recognition of the USA
 1823 recognition of new Latin American
states by Britain
 1856 Admission of Ottoman Empire into
Concert
 1853 Japan´s joining the system
 Imposition of diplomatic relations and unequal
treaties by Britain on China
I. Matters of peace and security (to prevent war)

world conferences = Congress meetings

 Vienna Congress 1815 – “concert”
 Paris Peace conference 1856
 Vienna 1864
 Prague 1866
 Frankfurt 1871
 Berlin Congress 1878
 Berlin Congress 1884-5
 Algeciras Conference 1906
II. Technical, communications, economic
and social matters
Group of experts or administrators performed
particular functions on behalf of states

 International Telegraphic Union 1856

 Universal Postal Union 1874
 Metric Union 1875
 International Copyright Union 1883
 Protection of literature and Artistic Property Union 1884
 Railway Union 1890
 Institute for Public Health 1890
 International Institute for Agriculture 1905
 Institute for Hygiene 1907
 Institute for Statistics 1913 etc.
III. Disarmament

 Hague Conferences –– the negotiations concerning disarmament,

the laws of war and war crimes
 The First Conference (1899) resulted in 4 Hague Conventions
 The Second Conference (1907) resulted in 14 Hague Conventions
 The Third Conference (planned for 1915 - did not take place due to the
start of WWI)

 The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 - the first multilateral

treaties that addressed the conduct of warfare and were largely based
on the Lieber Code

 the creation of a binding international court for compulsory arbitration to

settle international disputes – FAILED (voluntary forum for arbitration
was established)
IV. Private international associations

 National, humanitarian, religious, economic,

educational, scientific, political organizations

 Machinery of secretariats, boards and assemblies

 Out of state´s interest

 Endanger the security of state – official restriction on
representatives (anarchist, socialist and working men
associations)
4 stages in building IO
 The proposition of design
 Sponsoring a conference
 Experimental period
 Developing into permanent IO

 First World War – negatives and positives

 Foundation of the League of Nations
1919 Paris Peace Conference
2 tasks:
 make a settlement of victor over vanquished
 establish a functioning international system

 President Wilson – „general association of

nations“
 British commission – „conference of Allied
States“
 French proposal – „international tribunal,
i body, i force
Versailles Peace Conference
 Special Commission on the League of
Nations – led by president Wilson
 Hurst-Miller draft :
British-American-South African ideas
 New organizations – to promote international
co-operation, peace and stability
 Condition:
open, lawful, just and peaceable relations
between states
League of Nations - Covenant
Work of US president Wilson

 Article 8 – recommended reduction of

armament and limitation of private
manufacture of armaments
 Article 10 – to respect and preserve as
against external aggression the territorial
integrity and existing political independence
of all member states
League of Nations - Covenant
Work of British delegation
 Article 11 – any threat of ...is hereby declared
a matter of concern to the whole League and
the League shall take any action that may be
deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the
peace of nations
 Article 19 – the prevention of conflict by the
prior consideration of situations that might
threaten peace
League of Nations - Covenant
Work of Soth African statesman Jan Smuts
 Articles 12 – arbitration
 Articles 13 – conciliation
 Articles 14 – establisment of Permanent
Court of International Justice
 Articles 15 – mediation

Prevent war by economic actions – blocades, trade and

financial restrictions etc.
League of Nations - Covenant
 Treatment of ex-colonies of defeated powers
 Article 22, 23 – League of nations undertake
to secure just treatment of the native
inhabitants of territories under their control
 also economic and social questions (humane
condition of labour, control over women,
children and drug trafficking, supervising of
trade, freedom of commerce and
communications, control of disease)
League of Nations
 Established by Part I of Treaty of Versailles 28 june
1919, 44 states signed the Convenant
 Structure – 3 main:
 Council of the League of Nations
 General Assembly (representing all member states)
 Executive Council (with membership limited to major
powers)
 Permanent secretariat
 Permanent Court of Justice
 International Labor Organisation
League of Nations - activities
– resolving territorial disputes
 Åland Islands, Upper Silesia, Albania,
Memel, Hatay, Mosul, Vilnius, Colombia
and Peru, Saar
– Other conflicts
 Greece and Bulgaria, Liberia, Mukden
Incident, Chaco War, Italian invasion of
Abyssinia, Spanish Civil War, Second
Sino-Japanese War
League of Nations
 Weaknesses:
 Origins and structure
 Global representation
 Collective security
 Pacifism and disarmament

 Replaced by UN
 Dissolved 20 April 1946
United Nations Organization
 Avoid mistakes on League of Nations

 Dumbarton Oaks Meeting, 1944

 Yalta Summit, February 1945
 San Francisco conference, April 1945

 UN 24. 11. 1945 came into existence

 UN Charter
IO = mirror of the world
 Increase in number of states and in range of
states (Organisation of American States, Arab
League, Organization of African Unity, NATO,
OECD, ASEAN, Mercosur, Bretton Woods
institutions, EU, OPEC, Nordic council,
Caribbean Community)
4 types of global interaction
(Keohane and Nye)
 Communication
 Transportation
 Finance
 Travel

Growth in the number of intergovernmental

technical, economic and social organizations
and the spread of organizations between
individuals and non-governmental groups
Growth of INGOs
 Consultative status to ECOSOC (1500)
 Relation with UN specialized agencies
(economic, social educational cultural and
scientific questions)
 Trade unions
 Employee organizations
 Consultative status to FAO and UNESCO
 Environmental INGOs
 Multinational/transnational corporation
= glue for civil society working across frontiers
Third World
 Growing importance of Afro-Asian-Latin
American states
 Bandung Conference of non-aligned states ,
April 1955
3 demands:
 End of west orientation
 Market-based global economy
 Adoption of New International Economic
Order
A. Judge – 8 criteria for IO
1. International aims, at least 3 states
2. Individual or collective membership, full voting rights
3. Constitution must provide formal structure, periodical
elections, continuity of operations, permanent
headquarters
4. Changing nationality of officers
5. Substantial contribution to budget, no making profit for
members
6. Organic relationship with other organizations
7. Evidence of current activities
8. Negative criteria: size, politics, ideology, field of activity,
geographic allocation of headquarters, nomenclature
Wallace, Stinger – 3 criteria
1. Consist of at least 2 qualified members,
created by a formal instrument (agreement)
2. Hold regular plenary sessions a intervals not
greater than once a decade
3. Have a permanent secretariat with
permanent headquarters
Bennet – 5 criteria
1. Permanent organization, continuing set of
functions
2. Voluntary membership
3. Goals, structure and method of operation
4. Broadly representative consultative organ
5. Permanent secretariat (administrative and
information functions)
Tunkin - definition
 Created by states by means of concluding an
international treaty for the purpose... A
constituent instrument provides for certain
rights and capabilities which lead to the
conclusion that the organization possesses a
certain degree of international legal
personality.
Mozorov - definition
 Stable, clearly structured instrument of
international cooperation, freely established by its
members for the joint solution of common
problems ... Of at least three member states ...
Have agreed aims, organs, specific institutional
features such as statutes, rules of procedure,
membership etc. The aims and activity must be
in feeling with universally accepted principles of
international law embodied in UN Charter and
must not have a commercial character or pursue
profit-making aim.
Gerbet - definition
 The idea of IO is to outcome of an attempt to
bring order into international relations by
establishing lasting bonds across frontiers
between governments or social groups wishing to
defend their common interests, within the context
of permanent bodies, distinct from national
institutions, having their own individual
characteristics, capable of expressing their own
will and whose role is to perform certain functions
of international importance.
Virally - definition
 An association of States, established by
agreement among its members and
possessing a permanent system or set of
organs, whose task it is to pursue objectives
of common interest by means of cooperation
among its members
Definition
 Organizations created by, and consist of, States and other
subjects of international law (individuals, NGOs); created
by international agreement (multilateral treaty) or based
on political declarations or arrangements; have a
permanent institutional element

 Membership
 Aim
 Structure
International Law
 Law plays a fundamental role in IO in that whatever view
is taken of the legal character of the treaty constituting an
organization this provides the legal framework within
which the organization should operate.
 If IO steps outside this framework, its actions can by
analysed in terms of it acting illegally or as breach of
contract.
 IL represents a system of general principles of law that
applies across IO – dealing with powers, personality,
financing, membership, voting, reservations, privileges
and immunities, responsibility etc.
 Personality
 Entity is a legal person – it means that it is a subject
of the law; it has capacity to enter into legal relations
and to have legal rights and duties
 State still remains the predominant actor in
international law
 In the last century, IO, individuals and companies
have also acquired some degree of international legal
personality
 IO in sense of inter-state organizations have existed
since 1815 (Vienna congress)
 Classification
 IGOs (intergovernmental organizations)
 (interstate organizations)
X
 INGOs (international non-governmental
organizations)
 TNO (transnational organization) (Keohane , Nye)
 genuine,
 hybrid,
 transgovernmental (TGO).
 BINGO (business international non-governmental
organizations) = multinational corporations
Type of IO
 Universal x Regional
 Cooperative x Integrative
 Functional x General
 Technical x Political
 Military security x political x economic
 Inter-governmental x Supranational
 Be part of the UN system of organizations x
Be outside it
Constituent document
 Purposes/aims of organization
 Principles of functioning of member states
and particular organs
 System of membership
 Structure of IO
 Functions and responsibilities of organs
 Seat of IO
 System of financing
 Way of change or making amendments of
fundamental agreement
Purposes
 IOs put into practice specific tasks, rising from
their aims, through activities of their organs

 Peace-keeping
 Ensuring of security
 Developmen of economic, trade, research, cultural,
humanitarian cooperation
Purposes (other division)
 Trade
 Disarmament
 Human rights
 Terrorism
 Environment
 Commodity agreements
 Oceans and seas
 The Antarctic
 Fisheries
 Telecommunications
 other
Function
 Function of IO is a process of ensuring of field
of cooperation agreed by member states and
in the way agreed by member states

 Normative functions (recommendation, moral or

political declarations, binding obligations how
member states and organs should act)
 Control and verification
 Operative function (technical support (sending of
experts), establishing international funds, offering the
credit, preparation of documents, reports )
Functions (other division)
 Legislative or normative function (to adopt
norms in their field of competence,
conventions)
 Executive and administrative function (to
ensure the effectiveness of their actions, kind
of assistance, supervision or sanction)
 Judicial function (negotiations, inquiry,
mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial
settlement)
Structure
 Assembly
 Council / committee
 Secretary
 Other main organs
 Subsidiary organs
Assembly/conference/congress
 is formed by representatives of all member states;
 determine the main direction of activities of IO;
 decide on the most important issues under jurisdiction of IO;
 accept new members from states which fulfill the conditions for
the membership;
 elect members of organs with limited number of members;
 agree the budget;
 change the constituent document;
 meet usually once a year or in longer interval depending on
character and intensity of activities of IO;
 every member state has usually one vote;
 rule of unanimity is used in case of decisive political, security or
economic issues.
Council/committee
 consist of limited number of elected members 15-50 (universal
organizations) or of all members (regional organization);
 work in period between regular meetings of assembly;
 meets regularly several times per year or in accordance of need;
 elected mostly for 2 or 3 years;
 main role is to put into practice decisions made by assembly;
 work on regular reports about its activity;
 prepare programs;
 cooperate with member states and other IOs;
 supervise the secretary;
 each member has one vote usually;
 within decision-making process is necessary unanimity or
majority of votes
Secretary
 deals with administrative agenda;
 on the head is General Secretary or General Director –
represents IO in relations with member states and other IOs;
 Select information from member states;
 Offer results of its activities to member states and to relevant
institutions;
 Employ stuff from ten to thousands
Character of decisions
 Non-binding legal outputs (resolutions,
declarations, decisions or recommendations)
 Binding legal outputs (only in case when the
IO has the right to adopt such legally binding
documents)
 Legal outputs concerning inner life of IO
(decisions about budget, admission of new
member, contributions, election of organs and
their representatives)
Voting
 Unanimity – complete agreement by all MSs
 Majority voting - a decision rule that selects
alternatives which have a majority that is, more than
half the votes (simple majority) or more than two
thirds the votes (qualified majority)
 Weighted voting – voting system based on the idea
that not all voters are equal; their vote is in
accordance with the contributions to the budget
 Veto - the power of the state to unilaterally stop a
piece of legislation; (the UN Security Council contains
a de iure veto but only for each of the five permanent
members)
Membership
 universal x limited – regionally, functionally,
politically or economically

 Admission
 Leaving
 Suspension and expulsion
Privileges and immunities
UN Convention on privileges and immunities
from 1946

 privileges and immunities of the IO (make some kinds of

contracts with member state and non-member state; purchase the property; act at courts in
member state; buildings, archives and documents of IO are inviolable; IO has exemption
from direct taxes and customs duties and restrictions)

 privileges and immunities of officials (exemption from

national service obligations, immunity from suit for acts performed in official capacity,
exemption from direct taxes on their salaries)

 privileges and immunities for random

category of experts
Seat
 Seats of universal organization – the UN and
its specialized agencies – are in western
countries: New York, Geneva, Vienna, Rome,
London, Paris, Montreal, Washington.
 Seat of regional and particular political and
economic IO is usually on territory of that
state which is the most important member
state (NATO – Washington, League of Arab
States - Cairo), or on the territory of that state
which location is the most suitable (EU –
Brussels, Council of Europe - Strasbourg).
Budget / financing
 IO has no own capital. All costs connected to
IO are financed from the budget which is
approved by main organ where all MSs have
their representatives. The size of budget
should ensure to fulfill all activities of IO, and
these financial sources should be used
effectively.
 Amount of contribution of MS to the budget is
determined by the “key” by general assembly.
 Important is also control over budget
expenditure.
Theory
 Elements of Realism
 Conservative ideology
 History is viewed as circular
 The State is a dominant actor
 Organizations are meeting places for States
(conferences)
 A conference may be formalized by a treaty
 The treaty is a contract voluntarily entered
into by States, over which they are the
masters

Theory
 Elements of Rationalism
 Liberal ideology
 History is viewed as linear
 There are potentially many actors on the
international plane – States, IOs, ultimately
individuals
 IOs can govern/regulate State behavior
 The constituent treaty is a constitution,
embodying the rule of law, not politics
Future of IO

Discussion:

 Find a better alternative???