Tag Archives: IOs

4 December 2014

Presentation: The intricacies of joint and several responsibility, by André Nollkaemper

Professor André Nollkaemper will deliver a presentation entitled ‘The intricacies of joint and several responsibility’ in Leuven on 4 December 2014.

This presentation is part of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies’ Conference entitled ‘Member State Responsibility and International Organizations: Recent Developments’, which will take place on 3 and 4 December 2014 in Leuven.

Members of the SHARES team regularly present their research on a variety of issues of shared responsibility.

2013

To Share or Not to Share? The Allocation of Responsibility between International Organizations and their Member States

Christiane Ahlborn

This paper will discuss the costs and benefits of sharing responsibility between states and international organizations for their own internationally wrongful acts. Rules on shared responsibility are sparse in the existing law of international responsibility as codified by the International … Read more

11 November 2013

Report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe urges accountability mechanisms for international organisations

The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe published a report on the accountability of international organisations for human rights violations. The report, written by Rapporteur Mr. José Maria Beneyto, Spain, Group of the European People’s Party, identifies lacunae in the protection of individuals against human rights infringements by international organisations. By virtue of the separate legal personalities of international organisations, their member states are in general not responsible for their acts. This opens an accountability gap, where the conferral of legal personality to international organisations is not accompanied by effective accountability mechanisms. Additionally, member states can use the organisations as a shield from liability. The report notes that the most serious challenges are the lack of fora where the individual could implement accountability of international organisations, as well as procedural obstacles, such as immunity before national courts.

The report offers a number of suggestions in response to these problems. For example, it suggests that organisations should waive immunity when it is not required to ensure the independent fulfillment of its functions. Additionally, the report urges international organisations to establish internal mechanisms for accountability of human rights violations.

Source: Council of Europe | Parliamentary Assembly | Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights | Accountability of international organisations for human rights violations

2 October 2013

Seminar on IO responsibility in Bergen

The Faculty of Law of the University of Bergen (Norway) organises a seminar on 17 October 2013 entitled ‘New Directions in International Responsibility: Seminar on the Responsibility of International Organizations’.

Christiane Ahlborn, PhD candidate in the SHARES project, will give a presentation on the topic of ‘Shared Responsibility’.

Source: University of Bergen | New Directions in International Responsibility: Seminar on the Responsibility of International Organizations

14 June 2013

‘The Allocation of International Human Rights Duties (and Responsibilities) to Multiple Duty-bearers’, A Discussion of Samantha Besson’s SHARES Lecture

During a SHARES lecture on 6 June, Prof. Samantha Besson presented a recently published chapter on the allocation of international human rights duties and responsibilities for human rights in SHARES context. Building on the work of Henry Shue, among others, she offers a theory to bring our understanding of the supply side of human rights to the next level. Due to the complexity of this task, other human rights theorists have so far largely resorted to pragmatic and strategic reasoning instead of forwarding a morally coherent approach. Besson clarifies the steps to be taken as: (i) identification of human rights duties (ii) identification and justification of human rights duty-bearers; and (iii) allocation of human rights duties to human rights duty-bearers. (more…)

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