The Role of National Courts in Securing the Accountability of International Organizations

Introduction

The accountability of international organizations, and in particular the traditional public international law core aspect of their responsibility, is mainly relevant on the international level. Sometimes it may be put into effect by arbitration or other forms of international dispute settlement. In practice, however, the invocation of the international responsibility of international organization poses major problems because international organizations rarely consent to dispute settlement in advance.

This fact may have contributed to increasing attempts by various claimants to raise different types of complaints before domestic courts. In the last couple of years national fora are playing an increasingly important role in securing the accountability of international organizations. This is a fascinating phenomenon, since the far-reaching immunity from legal process they usually enjoy would appear to preclude domestic courts from entertaining law-suits against international organizations.

Reinforced by the landmark case of Waite and Kennedy before the ECtHR, a number of national courts have made such jurisdictional immunity contingent upon the availability of adequate alternative remedies and started to deny immunity where litigants had either no recourse at all or only substantially deficient protection available.

This tendency was reinforced by the Kadi jurisprudence of the European courts in Luxembourg which in effect reclaimed a place for national courts to assess the legality of acts of international organizations. The presentation critically assessed the role of national courts in the quest for more effectively securing the accountability of international organizations.

About the Speaker

Dr August Reinisch is professor of international and European law at the University of Vienna and professorial lecturer at the Bologna Center/SAIS of Johns Hopkins University. He currently serves as arbitrator on the In Rem Restitution Panel according to the Austrian General Settlement Fund Law 2001 on a pro bono basis and as arbitrator in various investment arbitrations. From 2004 to 2006 and as of 2010 he was/is Dean for International Relations of the Law School of the University of Vienna.

His professional experience includes expert adviser in Austrian and foreign court litigation as well as international arbitration; he was a Member of the ILA Committee on International Law on Foreign Investment, and he is a member of the ILA Study Groups on Accountability of International Organisations, State Insolvency, and the Role of Soft-Law Instruments in International Investment Law. He is president of the Austrian Branch of the ILA, Executive Board member of the European Society of International Law and of the German Society of International Law, as well as member of ASIL, ACUNS and other professional associations in the field of international law.

He has published widely in international law with a recent focus on international investment law, the law of international organizations, international responsibility, human rights and non-state actors.

August Reinisch holds Master’s degrees in philosophy (1990) and in law (1988) as well as a doctorate in law (1991) from the University of Vienna and an LL.M. (1989) from NYU Law School. He is admitted to the Bar of New York and Connecticut (since 1990).

Presentation

To download Prof Reinisch’s presentation in PDF format, please click here.