Reparation for Injuries and Beyond – The Design of the Personality and Powers of International Organisations by International Courts

While hundreds of international organizations exist today and they are recognised as subjects of international law, the emergence of a new actor, autonomous from states, was anything but uncontroversial. The debate on the legal status and the extent of powers of international organizations appears in literature and practice since the end of the 19th century. The Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Court of Justice (icj) have weighed in and played an important role in the discussion. In 1949 the icj recognised that international organizations can possess international legal personality, albeit different from the one enjoyed by states, in its Advisory Opinion on Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations. Although that seemed to settle the question the subjecthood, several questions remained concerning the basis for that personality, the process for its acquisition, and the exact extent of powers of international organizations, which were addressed in subsequent advisory opinions. This chapter investigates the contribution of the two courts to the conceptualisation of the legal status and scope of powers of international organizations. It discusses both the historical significance of their advisory opinions and the long-lasting effect that they still have on the study and theorisation of international organizations today.