Procedural Fairness as a Precondition for Immunity of International Organizations

Abstract

This article analyses the notion and role of fairness in the procedural rules and practice of international administrative tribunals.

It first demonstrates the importance of fair procedures in international administrative law by giving an overview of cases in national courts in which the failure to guarantee fair procedures resulted in the refusal to honour the immunity of international organizations.

It then analyses the notion of fairness expressed in the statutes and procedural rules and practice of international administrative tribunals, and shows that they apply the notion of fairness not only to procedural shortcomings, but also to the substantive examination of the reasonableness of decisions and policies.

Finally, the article examines the different roles the notion of fairness plays and how to reconcile the disparate visions and roles of fairness in international administrative law. It concludes by suggesting that international administrative tribunals should rely whenever possible on general principles of law or other sources of international administrative law, rather than on the notion of fairness.

Keywords: international institutional law, international civil service, due process, international administrative tribunals, sources of law