International Organizations
International Organizations have become a major part of international relations, especially since WWII. Over the years they have developed a special status in international law. This is recognized in the Restatement which devotes a section to them including this statement:
§ 223 Subject to the international agreement creating it, an international organization has
(a) status as a legal person, with capacity to own, acquire, and transfer property, to make contracts, to enter into international agreements with states and other international organizations, and to pursue legal remedies; and
(b) rights and duties created by international law or agreement.
The key thing to remember is that many IGOs have the capacity to create a kind of legislation within their area of competence and if a tribunal or other form of adjudicatory mechanism is part of their structure, to render decisions affecting their members. The biggest IGO is the United Nations. Besides existing for its own purposes, it serves as an "umbrella" organization for many special purpose IGOs such as the Food and Agriculture Organization or the World Health Organization.
The other major class of international organizations is the regional organization. The most visible of these is the European Union, but there many of them, including the Organization of American States (OAS), Mercosur, theIslamic Conference , the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). [NB: NAFTA is not an organization.]
A recent single volume introduction to International Organizations is:
Research guides:
A general directory:
The Internet has transformed the struggle to stay ahead of the documentation of IGOs. Most of them now have websites which at a minimum provide descriptive material, while the best of the sites reflect a realization that Internet publication of their materials helps both the organization and the would-be user. The library at Northwestern University has created a website ( http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govinfo/resource/internat/igo.html ) with links to a large number of IGO *******
United Nations
The United Nations is the biggest and most complicated of the IGOs and acts as the parent organization for many others. A fair amount of the work of the UN has some impact on international law, either developing it, creating it, or enforcing it. To get an overview of the full range of UN activities, take a look at a recent volume of the United Nations Yearbook (JX1976 .A21 Y36, 2nd floor).
United Nations home page is at http://www.un.org/ . Within that site there is a section which serves as an introduction to the structure and functions of the UN, at http://www.un.org/aboutun/ . Most importantly for research purposes, there is a site devoted to the documentation system, at http://www.un.org/documents/ . Within this page there are two good sub-sites, the Research Guide, at http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/ and the Special Topics section at http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/specil.htm .
The main bodies within the UN are the General Assembly , which has delegates from all the member countries, the Security Council , which has 15 members , 5 permanent and 10 rotating, the Economic and Social Council , and the Secretariat , which supports the work of the Secretary General . The 55th Session of the General Assembly will convene on September 5th, 2000.
The development of the UN websites means that finding some materials has become much easier. For example, General Assembly Resolutions from 1980 and Security Council Resolutions from 1946 on are on the main web******* In some circumstances, the collection of UN documents relating to a particular subject are more comprehensively presented at a site maintained by a subsidiary organization. A good example of this is the site run by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, http://www.ohchr.org/ .
Central site linking all UN Departments
The United Nations was developed during the latter part of World War Two. It is the heir to the League of Nations, the first attempt at a truly worldwide IGO with a mandate to cover a wide range of subjects.
SUBJECT ORIENTED IGOs
The specialized agencies of the UN serve to coordinate world wide activities in specific subject areas. They are roughly analogous to our domestic federal agencies. For example, the US agency in charge of issues relating to airlines, airports, and air traffic control is the Federal Aviation Administration. The worldwide equivalent is the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). There are many of these IGOs with varying amounts of power and different structures. All are the result of treaties and often serve to coordinate additional treaties in the same area. Most produce some sort of legislation-like texts. Most have some sort of representative body. Some have adjuducative bodies with of limited jurisdiction. All of them produce some sort of documentation.
This documentation includes treaties, meeting records, treaty or regulatory proposals, tribunal decisions, etc. The publishing and distribution structures are not coordinated, so finding the material can be a challenge. The best single guide to most of this is Peter Hajnal's International information : documents, publications, and electronic information of international governmental organizations, 2nd ed.Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1997. ( JX1995 In805 1997, 3rd Fl REFERENCE). This was written just as the Internet was taking off, so there is some acknowledgment of electronic sources, but it is now best seen as a snapshot of the end of the paper period. Virtually all of the UN related IGOs has a website. The UN maintains a central site linking to all UN affiliated groups. UN Publications System Pathfinder: http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/pathfind/frame/start.htm
Examples of current IGO websites include:
A very detailed research guide to United Nations materials can be found at http://nyugloballaw.com/globalex/United_Nations_Research1.htm.
World Trade Organization (ex-GATT)
The World Trade Organization is one of the newest international organizations. It describes itself as "the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible." The WTO was created in 1995 as the result of what is known as the "Uruguay Round of Negotiations", which lasted from 1986 to 1994. It evolved from the more awkwardly structured General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Introductory Works
Case Law
- World Trade Organization. Dispute settlement reports. Cambridge, U.K. : Cambridge University Press, c2000- (JX6279 W8931 2000, 2nd Floor)
Historical Documents
European Union
From the point of view of the IGO and European Federalists, the European Union is the most successful IGO in existence. "Eurosceptic" politicians would grudgingly agree, but fear it has been too successful. There has been a substantial surrender of portions of normally sovereign power by its members, so EU rules and decisions have a direct effect on the citizens of the member states. It consists of fifteen countries of Western Europe, with several others waiting for admission. It earliest purposes were economic coordination and development, but thre is now a strong social context as well.� Besides the main website shown above, there is a site linking the main government websites of the member states at http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/index_en.htm.
The rule making and judicial systems of the EU are very complicated, involving the interplay of a very powerful "Commission ", the Council of the European Union , and the European Parliament (which would like to be more powerful). The interplay of these bodies is the subject of a very useful webpage.
European Court of Justice (Luxembourg) and related bodies are described above, in the Case Law Section.
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organisation which aims:
"to protect human rights, pluralist democracy and the rule of law;
to promote awareness and encourage the development of Europe’s cultural identity and diversity;
to seek solutions to problems facing European society (discrimination against minorities,
xenophobia, intolerance, environmental protection, human cloning, Aids, drugs, organised crime, etc.);
to help consolidate democratic stability in Europe by backing political, legislative and constitutional reform."
The Council of Europe covers all major issues facing European society other than defence. Its work programme includes the following fields of activity: human rights, media, legal co-operation, social and economic questions, health, education, culture, heritage, sport, youth, local democracy and transfrontier co-operation, the environment and regional planning.
The Committee of Ministers is the Council of Europe’s decision-making body, and is composed of the Foreign Ministers of the 41 member states (or their Permanent Representatives). The Parliamentary Assembly is the Organisation’s deliberative body, the members of which are appointed by national parliaments. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe is a consultative body representing local and regional authorities.
The Council of Europe is the umbrella for the European Court of Human Rights, (see above) based in Strasbourg. Another related body is the European Commission on Human Rights.
MERCOSUR
The main website for this evolving common market of South America is hyperlinked above. There is a new (as yet uncatalogued in our library) multivolume set called Codigo del Mercosur, edited by Roberto Dromi which contains a plethora of material including "Tratado, potocolos, acuerdos, declaraciones, decisiones, resolucions", etc
