Submitted by Muhammad Haroon

Department : Law
Semester : 7th
Subject : International Law
Assignment : Role of International Institutions in the protection of
Norms of International Law

Introduction :
International Institutions play an important role in the international
arena, with power in mediation, dispute resolution, peacekeeping,
applying sanctions, global governance etc. They also help in tackling key
areas of international concern or global issues such as global health
policy, monetary policies around the world, climate change, resource
depletion and management of “global commons”. International
Institutions today play an important role in almost all the political and
economic challenges of the 21st century. The most important attribute
of international organizations is their neutrality, impartiality and
independence.
Definition :
International institutions can be defined as “behavioural regularities
associated with a set of rules, norms and routines” which can either
have a formal or informal character. On account of this broad definition
international institutions appear in several different forms, such as
international organisations as well as international treaties with
divergent conceptual designs, missions and tasks.
The term "International Institutions" also known as International
Organization. An organization means having international membership.
The international Organization has been defined as "Forum of Co-
operation of sovereign state based on multilateral international
agreement governed by international law and possessing its own
international legal personality.
Such as,United Nations (UN),International Labour Organization (ILO)
World health organizations
According to Wikipedia An international organization also known as
an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a
stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states
and other actors in the international system.
Organizations may be established by a treaty or be an instrument
governed by international law and possessing its own legal personality,
such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization and NATO.
International organizations are composed of primarily member states,
but may also include other entities, such as other international
organizations, firms, and nongovernmental organizations. Additionally,
entities (including states) may hold observer status.
Role of International Institutions :
The United Nations strives to uphold international law. It establishes
conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations under
treaties and under international law can be maintained. The
development and respect for international law is an important part of
the work of the United Nations. This work is carried out in many ways
by International Court of Justice, International tribunals, multilateral
treaties and by the Security Council, which can approve peacekeeping
missions, impose sanctions, or authorize the use of force when there is
a threat to international peace and security if it considered it to be
necessary. These powers are given to it by the UN Charter, which is
considered an international treaty.
UNO was established after the 2nd World War and thus the prime
concern was the maintenance of international peace and security by
preventing States from the scourge of war and by addressing various
issues of global concern. Thus, UNO is mandated to maintain peace and
security by taking steps to prevent and prevent threats to peace and by
suppression of acts of aggression and other breaches to peace.
Further UNO strives to maintain friendly relations among nations based
on the respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination
of people.
It also aims to achieve international cooperation for solving
international problems of economic, cultural, social and humanitarian
character and by promoting respect for human rights and fundamental
freedom without any discrimination.
International organizations play important role in what can be called
the global governance.
Global Governance :
According to Finkelstein Global governance can be defined as
governing international relations without a sovereign authority.
This broad definition allows for an adequate degree of flexibility
regarding the scope, reach, formality, institutionalisation and the
different actors of global governance which is indispensable in order to
comprehend global governance in all its different forms. The need for
global governance emerged on account of the internationalisation of
problems previously considered as local or domestic, the
interdependencies and the interconnections between states which
developed over the years . Therefore, global governance should cover
overlapping international functions such as information creation and
exchange; a regulatory and normative function with the formulation
and promulgation of principles; the promotion of cooperation,
consensus and common conflict resolution; the allocation of resources;
the provision of technical assistance, humanitarian aid and
development as well as the maintenance of peace and order.
Peaceful dispute settlement:
One of the fundamental ways in which international organizations can
contribute and uphold International law is by a peaceful settlement of
disputes. Without such a mechanism, the global world which is always
in a constant state of anarchy and will descend into the Hobbesian
“State of nature”, which is a state of war of everyone against everyone
and the life in it will be “nasty and brutish”. All such organizations
subscribe to the UN Charter, according to which all member states
should settle their international disputes by peaceful means so that
international peace and security and justice is not endangered. Thus,
the UN Charter provides for Pacific settlement of the dispute through
the instrumentality of the Security Council and establishment of the
International Court of Justice.
the main aim of international organizations continues to be to facilitate
negotiations and implement agreements and treaties, dispute
resolution, and offering technical assistance and monetary assistance
and developing rules. Specific International organizations cater to a
specific problem or issue faced by the global community.
Business and Trade :
International Trade is usually referred to the exchange of goods or
services along international borders.It allows us to expand our markets
for both goods and services.The growth of international trade can be
increased, if the countries follow a common set of rules, regulations,
and standards related to import and export. These common rules and
regulations are set by various international economic institutions.
These institutions aim to provide a level playing field for all the
countries and develop economic cooperation.
Political neutrality with no vested interests:
International organizations provide a platform for depoliticised and
specific unbiased discussions in a much more effective way than any
other arrangement. They delineate the specific terms of ongoing
interactions between States and strive to balance the relationships
between stronger and weaker nations, between interests and
knowledge. This is because International organizations participate as
independent and neutral actors on the global stage and this helps in
increasing the efficiency and legitimacy of their individual or collective
decisions Thus, International organizations are instrumental in ensuring
international cooperation.
Expertise in specific matters:
One of the main reasons why states want to establish or participate as
members of independent international organizations is that such
organizations have and can delegate authority in those matters which
require knowledge, expertise, information, time and resources that are
not available at all times. International organizations perform actions
that enjoy legitimacy and affect the legitimacy of the State activity.
Legislative functions:
International organizations perform various specialised legislative and
supervisory functions, which involves developing a framework for
cooperation, treaties, developing rules etc. However, it does not act as
a world parliament. For instance, resolutions passed by the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) are binding on member states.
Similarly, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), World
Health Organisation (WHO), International Labour Organisation (ILO)
perform specialised legislative and regulatory functions.
Articulation and Aggregation :
International organisations can function for the aggregation and
articulation of the national interests of its members into the
international system. Thus, they bring the interested states into the
same framework to articulate their interests into the world society. Just
like interests groups in the national systems articulate and aggregate
their common interests by forming institutions, associations, and
interest-groups such as unions for better wages and working
conditions, or green peace for cleaner environment, states do the same
by articulating and aggregating their common interests onto the
international political system through the international organisations.
To achieve this, they form coalition, co-operation, alliance. For
example, OPEC is a organisation for the aggregation and articulation of
the oil exporting countries, to raise the oil prices, or to increase their
power by using oil as a weapon. UNCTAD is sub-organ of the UN to
articulate the interests of the developing countries, and to augment
their voice in the system. On the other hand, there are some INGOs for
the same objective, such as World Zionist Organisation, International
Chamber of Shipping, etc.
Norms :
They can function as the makers of norms and law for the operation of
international relations. In other words, they make law for the states to
follow. Their activities are grouped into three groups:
On political issues: They produced several documents or treaties in
improving human rights, for example 1948 UN Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, 1982 Law of Sea,
On economic issues, they make arrangements to improve trade and
economic relations among the nations. For example, GATT developed
important norms for free international trade and commerce by
lowering the custom tariffs and bringing some standards for the
running of the world trade.
On security issues, the UN and other regional organisations developed
some norms in the filed of disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, ban
the use of force, de-legitimisation of colonaialization, etc.
Socialisation :
They adapt the states into the international system by socialising them.
Just like in the national system there are institutions such as military,
schools, foundations to socialise the citizens into the national system,
international organisations educate and train them in such a way. It
takes place at two levels:
By direct means, any organisations provide educational, social,
psyhcological environment to the citizens of the member countries.
Thus they create a "community sprit" In that some INGOs play a great
role by affecting the people in different ways.
By formal and diplomatic ways, state representatives or diplomats can
be "socialised" to act in certain ways that is acceptable to the rest of
the "international community". They learn new thinking and alternative
ways of living. As a result they are persuaded in a way in line with the
general norms of international system.

Information
They collect, keep, and disseminate information to the states which
need them. For example, the WHO, WMO, FAO, and many other
functional international organisations have wide array of information in
their own special field. And states uses their own interests.
Operations
Their operations vary depending on the field of the international
organisation. Thus some deal with providing credit (IMF-World Bank),
some with helping refugees (UNHCR), some with health problems
(WHO) and so on.
Rule-Application
Rule – application means putting the rule into effect In most cases, the
rules are expected to be put into effect by the member governments
because the international organisations may not have the resource or
means to put them into effect. But for the rules to be applied widely,
they should be accepted by the members states as useful for their
interests. Otherwise, they can remain as papers.
For example, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions to several
aggressors, but only a few of them were put into practice, such against
Iraq, but not against Israel.
Rule - Adjudication
Rule – adjudication means the legal solution of the problems by the
judicial courts. In nation-states, the rule-adjudication is carried out by
the judiciary- law courts, arbitration panels, tribunals, an so on. In
international level, this is done by some institutions such as
International Court of Justice inn the case of the UN, and the
Permanent Court of International Justice in the case of the League of
Nations, or the European Court of Justice in the Case of the European
Union. But the decisions of these courts are boundary only for those
who accept its authority.
Conclusion:
International organizations continue to play a crucial role. The rapid
development of international organizations in the last 30 years has
created an environment in which international law can exercise a
constructive influence. organizations like the United Nations have
greatly influenced the domestic legislations of countries in respect of
Human rights, environmental protection, sustainable development etc.
organizations like the International Monetary Fund and World Trade
Organisation have changed the perspective of states from being
protectionist to a liberal and free trade system. However, what is
needed is a greater role of developing countries in such organizations
as currently the emergence of some regional organizations is due to
lack of say of developing countries in many multilateral organizations.