Transcript The United Nations of the Future. What role for

Sir Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures 2010-11
The United Nations of the Future.
What role for international law?
Professor Nico Schrijver
Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies,
Leiden University
Sir Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures 2010-11
The international architecture
for global governance
and global justice
Lauterpacht Lecture III
Thursday 24 February 2011
Major substantive changes
• From negative to positive peace
• From military towards
comprehensive security
• From Cold War human rights
rhetoric towards universality
and indivisibility
• From external to internal selfdetermination and good
governance
• From economic towards
sustainable development
UN Charter as a special treaty
• Its purposes and
principles
• General public interests
• Widespread ratification
• Conciseness
• Long history
• Primacy
• Special legal status
Diversity of sources of ‘UN law’
• Charter
• Normative ‘soft law’ on human rights,
self-determination, peace and security,
development and environment
• ‘Hard law’, including treaty law and
peremptory norms
Current problems in global
governance (I)
• Poor organisation of
consultation and decisionmaking on international
affairs
• Representativeness and
effectiveness
• Weak transparency,
legitimacy and
accountability
• Role of civil society
• Role of business sector
Current problems in global
governance (II)
• Fragmented rather than
comprehensive
approaches
• No coherence
• Significant gaps, e.g.
environment
• Risk of ad hoc groups such
as G-8 or G-20 taking over
part of mandate UN
UN under attack
• Security Council – representative?
• General Assembly –
“we the peoples”?
• ECOSOC –
merely sleeping beauty
• Trusteeship Council – empty shell
• International Court of Justice –
world court?
• Secretary-General –
secretary or general?
Security Council reform (I)
• Composition
• Functioning
• Implied powers or
mission creep?
• Acting ultra vires?
• Primus inter pares?
Relationship with regional
organisations
• Relationship with the GA
and ICJ
Review of recent reform
proposals (I)
Review of recent reform
proposals (II)
(Inter-)Regional Organisations
on the Security Council?
• European Union
• African Union
• ASEAN plus
• Organisation of
American States
• Organisation of Islamic
Conference
Alternative Idea for
Composition Security Council
• China, France, Russia, UK, USA (P-5)
• India
• Japan
• Brazil
• South Africa
• European Union
• African Union
• ASEAN plus
• Organisation of American States
• Organisation of Islamic Conference
• One elected member from each region (4)
Total 18
Current human rights architecture
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General Assembly
Security Council
ECOSOC
UN Secretary-General
International Court
of Justice
• Office of the High
Commissioner for
Human Rights
• Human Rights Council
The Establishment of the
Human Rights Council in 2006
• UNGA Res. 60/251, 15 March 2006
• Membership: from 53 to 47
• Election by simple majority in GA
• Suspension of membership by two third
majority
• Merely advisory and recommendatory
powers
Human Rights: from
Commission to Council
Former
Commission
New Council
Africa
15 (28%)
13 (28%)
Asia
12 (23%)
13 (28%)
Latin America
11 (21%)
8 (17%)
Eastern Europe
5 (9%)
6 (13%)
Western Europe &
Others
10 (19%)
7 (15%)
Total
53 (100%)
47 (100%)
UN treaty bodies
• Human Rights Committee (civil and political rights)
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
• Committee Against Torture
• Committee on the Rights of the Child
• Committee on the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of
their Families
• Committee on the Rights of Persons with a Disability
• Committee on Forced Disappearances
Global Governance of
Economic and Financial Affairs
• Role Bretton Woods
institutions
• Multiplicity of actors
• North – South dialogue
in stalemate
• International
cooperation for
development
Current structure
environmental governance
1. United Nations Environment
Programme
2. UN Commission on
Sustainable Development
3. UN Specialized Agencies
(FAO, World Bank, IFAD,
WMO, IMO, UNESCO)
4. Other UN institutions
and organs
5. Treaty secretariats
6. Commodity organisations
Features of environmental
governance
• Poor organization and
environmental consultation and
decision-making
• Fragmentation and proliferation
• Integration of environment,
development still to be achieved
• Interaction between local,
national, regional and global
levels
• Drastic measures necessary for
redesigning the international
architecture for environmental
governance and global resource
management
Alternative Ideas for improving
global environmental governance
• Environmental Security
Council
• Green UN police forces
• International environmental
Ombudsman
• Upgrading UNEP into
Specialized Agency
• Single treaty body for
environmental conventions
• UN World Environment
Organization (UN WEO)
Post-UN era? Who is the ultimate
guardian of general public interests?
• Civil society and corporate sector
• World peoples’ assembly
• Regional organizations on the
Security Council
– EU, AU, OAS, ASEAN
• Stand-by police force and UN army
• New World Environment
Organization
• Towards a World Court on Human
Rights
• Improving compulsory jurisdiction
International Court of Justice