Summaries of the Work of the International Law Commission
Settlement of disputes to which international organizations are parties*
* At its seventy-fourth session, in 2023, the Commission decided to change the title of the topic from “Settlement of international disputes to which international organizations are parties” to “Settlement of disputes to which international organizations are parties”.
See also: Analytical Guide | Texts and Instruments
At its sixty-eighth session, in 2016, the Commission included the topic “The settlement of international disputes to which international organizations are parties” in its long-term programme of work.1 A syllabus describing the possible overall structure of, and approach to, the topic was annexed to that year’s report of the Commission.2 As is noted in the syllabus, the topic flows from earlier work of the Commission. For example, in 2002, the Commission’s Working Group on “The responsibility of international organizations” mentioned “the widely perceived need to improve methods for settling … disputes” concerning the responsibility of international organizations (see page 254).3 In 2010, the Commission held a discussion on “settlement of disputes clauses”, under the agenda item “other matters”.4 This was followed by a discussion on “peaceful settlement of disputes”, held at the next session in 2011, also under the same agenda item.5
The General Assembly, in resolution 71/140 of 13 December 2016, took note of the inclusion of the topic in the long-term programme of work of the Commission.
At its seventy-third session, in 2022, the International Law Commission decided to include the topic “Settlement of international disputes to which international organizations are parties” in its programme of work and appointed August Reinisch as Special Rapporteur for the topic.6 Paragraph 3 of the 2016 syllabus on the topic, which stated that “[i]t would be for future decision whether certain disputes of a private law character, such as those arising under a contract or out of a tortious act by or against an international organization, might also be covered”, was recalled.7 Considering the importance of such disputes for the functioning of international organizations in practice, it was presumed that the Special Rapporteur and the Commission would take such disputes into account.8 The Commission also requested the Secretariat to prepare a memorandum providing information on the practice of States and international organizations which may be of relevance to its future work on the topic, including both international disputes and disputes of a private law character.9
At its seventy-fourth session, in 2023, the Commission had before it the first report of the Special Rapporteur on the topic (A/CN.4/756), which addressed the scope of the topic and provided an analysis of the subject matter of the topic in light of previous relevant work of the Commission and of other international bodies. The report also addressed certain definitional issues. Following the debate in plenary, the Commission decided to refer draft guidelines 1 and 2, as proposed in the first report, to the Drafting Committee, taking into account the comments and observations made in plenary. The Commission subsequently provisionally adopted draft guidelines 1 and 2 and decided to change the title of the topic from “Settlement of international disputes to which international organizations are parties” to “Settlement of disputes to which international organizations are parties”.
The work of the Commission on the topic as described above has been proceeding in accordance with the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly under the item relating to the report of the International Law Commission.10
1 See Yearbook … 2016, vol. II (Part Two), para. 308.
3 See Yearbook … 2002, vol II (Part Two), para. 486.
4 See Yearbook … 2010, vol. II (Part Two), para. 388.
5 See Yearbook … 2011, vol. II (Part Two), paras. 416 and 417.
6 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-seventh Session, Supplement No. 10 (A/77/10), para. 238.
7 See Yearbook … 2016, vol. II (Part Two), Annex I, p. 233.
8 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-seventh Session, Supplement No. 10 (A/77/10), para. 238.
10 General Assembly resolution 77/103 of 7 December 2022.