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Observer status for the International Committee of the Red Cross at the United Nations — A legal viewpoint

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

Christian Koenig
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Extract

In many respects, observer status for the ICRC will place the practical co-operation that already existed between the institution and the United Nations on a stronger legal basis. It will also spare the ICRC the considerable drain on its resources that was necessary, when it had only consultative status, to bring its pragmatic inter arma caritas proposals before the United Nations.

Type
United Nations and ICRC
Information
International Review of the Red Cross (1961 - 1997) , Volume 31 , Issue 280 , February 1991 , pp. 37 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 1991

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Footnotes

*

Christian Koenig worked from May to July 1990 as a legal assistant at the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations in New York. During that time he drew up a legal analysis on the subject of observer status for the ICRC. This analysis was used as a discussion paper in the body dealing with European political co-operation at United Nations headquarters and also served as a basis for the following article.

References

** The term “specialized agencies” as used in this text refers to specialized agencies brought into relationship with the United Nations; it also includes the International Atomic Energy Agency.

1 See Verdross, A./Simma, B., Universelles Völkerrecht, 3rd edition, Berlin 1984, p. 254, para. 420CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bindschedler-Robert, D., “Red Cross”, Encyclopedia of Public International Law 5 (1983), Bernhardt (publishers), p. 251 Google Scholar; Forsythe, D.P., “The Red Cross as Transnational Movement”, International Organization, Vol. 30 (1976), p. 607 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sandoz, Y., «Le droit d'initiative du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge», German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 22 (1979), p. 352 ffGoogle Scholar. Only Barile, G. expresses a different opinion, in «Caractère du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge», Rivista di diritto internazionale 62 (1979), p. 115 Google Scholar. He casts doubt on the international personality of the ICRC with the argument that the ICRC is not in a position to assert its own rights under international law. This reveals a misunderstanding of the modern concept of “functional international personality”, as Barile is applying an obsolete, overly narrow definition of international personality. Moreover, in denying that the ICRC has its own rights under international law, Barile disregards the international character of the many agreements concluded between the ICRC and both States and intergovernmental organizations.

2 See also Dominicé, C., «La personnalité juridique intemationale du CICR», Studies and essays on international humanitarian law and Red Cross principles in honour of Jean Pictet, Geneva 1984, p. 663 ff.Google Scholar; Reuter, P., «La personnalité juridique internationale du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge»Google Scholar, ibid., p. 783 ff.

3 Suy, Erik, “The Status of Observers in International Organizations”, Recueil des cours de l'Académie de droit international 160 (1978/II), pp. 83 ff., 102.Google Scholar

4 See ECOSOC resolution 1296 (XLIV) of 23 May 1968, paras. 16–19; ECOSOC Doc. E/1989/INF7sol;11 of 24 October 1989 contains a list of the NGOs currently registered in the three categories.

5 Suy, E. loc. cit., p. 103.Google Scholar

6 Sybesma-Knol, R.G., The Status of Observers in the UN, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, 1981, p. 302.Google Scholar

7 ibid., p. 72.

8 ibid., p. 75.

9 Ginther, K., «Die völkerrechtliche Stellung nationaler Befreiungsbewegungen im südlichen Afrika», Österreichische Zeitschrift für öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, 32 (1982), p. 144.Google Scholar

10 See Koenig, C., Der nationale Befreiungskrieg im modernen humanitären Völkerrecht, Frankfurt/Bern/New York/Paris 1988, p. 82.Google Scholar

11 See the Secretary-General's guidelines on observer status for national liberation movements in the UN Juridical Yearbook 1975, p. 166.Google Scholar

12 See Suy, E. loc. cit., p. 110.Google Scholar

13 See footnotes 1 and 2.

14 See Suy, E. loc. cit., p. 156.Google Scholar