Online | International Organisations Do Not Need to Have Members!

Speaker: Dr Gerd Droesse
Chair: Dr Martins Paparinskis (UCL)

About the lecture

The lecture will show that - contrary to conventional wisdom - international organisations do not need to have members as (i) the parties to the organisation’s constituent agreement do not need to become members. Also, (ii) a membership structure is not suitable for all international organisations, especially international organisations producing global public goods or fighting global public bads, and (iii) effectively, there are international organisations without a formal membership structure. Also, membership in international organisations does not need to be limited to states and international organisations; as a matter of principle, private sector entities and other stakeholders can be full members of international organisations as well.

The lecture will profile these and other theses of the book of Gerd Droesse titled “Membership in International Organizations. Paradigms of Membership Structures, Legal Implications of Membership and the Concept of International Organization”, which was published recently in 2020 by T.M.C. Asser Press https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789462653269.

The lecture will propose that some fundamental concepts of international law need to be revised. Thus, international organizations do not need to possess international legal personality, nor is their autonomy a corollary of their personality. Moreover, the notion of “subject of international law” also needs to be reconsidered and the very concepts and definitions of “intergovernmental organisation” and “international organisation” need to change and be defined in a wider manner. Finally, it is also advocated that creation of new organizations has passed over to international organisations and other entities, such as conferences of meetings of the parties to multilateral conventions.

About the speaker

Dr. Gerd Droesse is a recognized specialist in institutional law, international administrative law, complex institutional and financial policy matters and corporate governance issues, with over 35 years of experience in working for international organizations in senior and management positions. He was employed in the Asian Development Bank at Director level, and was the Legal Counsel/Acting General Counsel of the Green Climate Fund and General Counsel of the World Green Economy Organization.  Dr. Droesse has been teaching since 2017 at the Paris School of International Affairs (SciencesPo) and is currently a Visiting Professor at the Tashkent State University of Law. Dr. Droesse is the author of the book titled: Funds for Development. Multilateral Channels of Concessional Financing” which was launched in 2011 at the National University of Singapore and of the book mentioned above, and has contributed chapters to five other books.

Delivery

This event will be delivered via Zoom Webinar. Attendee cameras and microphones will be turned off but they will be able to put questions to the panel via the Q&A box. You will receive your zoom joining link 48-hours before the start of the event. Contact the Laws Events team (laws-events@ucl.ac.uk) if you have not receive the link

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