International Representation by State-independent Bodies

Abstract

This volume is organized around the assumption, in the words of a flyer for the associated conference, that apart from member states—in effect, member governments—there are other ‘public or private institutions or persons’ that often play a part in international organizations. In illustrating the range of such participants, it cites ‘non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, trade unions, employer’s associations, cities, regions or religious groups’.1 And it also makes the point that international organizations may themselves constitute non-governmental participants in higher-level organizations.

The focus of my paper, like that of the original conference, is on how far things can be organized within international organizations ‘to ensure sufficient democratic representation of all those they claim to bind legally, either directly or through their Member States’. Those they bind in this way include most prominently the peoples of member states. So how far can such peoples be democratically represented in international organizations by bodies that form independently of the state or states from which their membership is drawn? I shall describe such agents or agencies as state-independent, or sometimes just as independent, bodies.