Remedies Against International Organisations

International organizations have become major players on the international scene, whose acts and activities affect individuals, companies and states. Damage to interests or violation of rights sometimes occur (such as during peacekeeping operations, for example). Karel Wellens considers what remedies are available to potential claimants such as private contractors, staff members or, indeed, anyone suffering damage as a result of their actions. Can they turn to an Ombudsman or national courts, or do they have to rely on support by their own state? Are the remedies provided by international organizations adequate? Wellens' conclusions include suggestions for alternative remedial options in the future.

A consideration of the legal remedies available to victims of actions by international organizations.

This title analyses the challenges citizens face obtaining remedies and reparation for harm suffered as a result of the actions of international organisations. It encourages reflection on additional measures to strengthen accountability.

In the broader context of the accountability of international organisations, this book focuses on the obligation of the United Nations - like many other organisations - to ‘make provisions for appropriate modes of settlement of ... disputes of a private law character’ to which it is a party. The book advocates a systematic approach in conformity with the rule of law in discharging that obligation. That is needed to increase the legitimacy of international organisations, while bolstering their jurisdictional immunity. The work also develops the basic features of a comprehensive dispute settlement mechanism, complemented by a new United Nations convention.

In December 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Law Commission's articles on the responsibility of international organizations, bringing to conclusion not only nearly ten years of reflection by the Commission, governments and organizations on this specific topic, but also decades of study of the wider subject of international responsibility, which had initially focused on State responsibility. Parallel to this reflection by the Commission, diplomats and public officials, the body of international case-law and literature on the many facets of the topic has steadily been growing. Responsibility of International Organizations: Essays in Memory of Sir Ian Brownlie contributes to the body of international literature by collecting a broad spectrum of different and sometimes differing perspectives from well-known experts in the field, ranging from the bench to the Commission, academia, and the world of in-house counsel. The book is also a memorial to the renowned Sir Ian Brownlie, himself a former Chairman of the International Law Commission who, as a leading scholar and practitioner, greatly contributed to the reflection on international responsibility, including the responsibility of international organizations. Edited by Maurizio Ragazzi, a former pupil of Sir Ian, the book is an ideal companion to International Responsibility Today, a collection of essays on international responsibility which the same editor presented in 2005 in memory of Oscar Schachter, and to which Sir Ian Brownlie had contributed. The essays collected in Responsibility of International Organizations: Essays in Memory of Sir Ian Brownlie, conveniently grouped by the editor under broad areas for the reader's benefit, will be relevant not only to all those interested in this specific subject but also, more generally, to all those engaged in the field of international law and the law of international organizations.

This title analyses the challenges citizens face obtaining remedies and reparation for harm suffered as a result of the actions of international organisations. It encourages reflection on additional measures to strengthen accountability.

This new edition considers the legal concepts that have emerged from a wider political debate to govern vastly differing inter-governmental organisations ranging from the UN to the EU