10. New Concept of International Organization

This chapter elaborates a new analytical framework for the definition of international organization. It shows that neither establishment by an international agreement, nor membership or international legal personality should be part of a definition of international organization. Moreover, the autonomy of international organizations should not be exclusively be analysed under the aspect of the relations of an organization with its members. For being able to classify an entity as international organization, it is to be determined whether a cooperative undertaking is institutionalized to the extent that it can classified as an “organization”. Such classification generally requires that the purpose and functions of the organization have been defined and that it has organs through which it can act. Moreover, a classification as mentioned above requires that an entity enjoys political autonomy and institutional independence. The “political autonomy” refers to the classical notion of “volonté distincte”, while institutional independence relates to the “extent to which international organizations constitute a legal order distinct from the general international legal order”. Another important criterion is whether an organization is competent to perform some of the core functions which any international organization needs to perform, such as the such as the power to approve a budget, appoint the head of the Secretariat and decide on policies, procedures and operational activities. Also, an international organization must act on the international plane. Whether this is the case is an institutional fact and depends on the organization’s functions and the position which recognized subjects of international law have adopted in its regard. It is also shown that the power of creation of new international organizations has passed over to international organizations and other actors. Moreover, the chapter discusses future challenges on international organizations.