This is a core chapter of the book. It shows that—contrary to conventional wisdom—international organizations do not need to have members as (i) the parties to the organization’s constituent agreement do not need to become members. Also, (ii) a membership structure is not suitable for all international organizations, especially international organizations producing global public goods or fighting global public bads, and effectively, there are international organizations without a formal membership structure. Also, traditional membership concepts are predicated on the club theory, and in this context, on the correlation of benefits and obligations resulting from membership. However, such traditional concepts of international organization are not suitable, or only suitable to a very limited extent, for new types of organizations producing global public goods for fighting global public bads. In addition, they lose importance as an eligibility criterion even for traditional organizations with a treaty base. The chapter discusses different types of membership and subjects of membership. While it is firmly established that states, international organizations, and dependent territories are eligible subjects of membership, the question whether corporations and other transnational actors may be full members of international organizations is generally not even raised, let alone answered. There is no reason why such forms of institutionalized participation should be excluded. It conceivable that there may be international organizations with a membership structure consisting entirely of corporations and other non-state actors. Affiliate or sector membership of private sector entities and other transnational actors should be encouraged. Moreover, international organizations should become hubs, platforms and fora for a great variety of actors, including sub-state actors. This chapter also reviews membership procedures and various classifications of such procedures based on the number of organs that are involved in the approval of the membership process, based on the criteria adopted for the review process and relating to different subjects of membership.
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Schermers and Blokker 2011, §66: “One element all organizations have in common is that they have members.”
Blokker 2004, p. 140. Blokker 2004, p. 140. Martha 2010, p. 169. Wessel and Dekker 2015, pp. 301–302. IMF Articles of Agreement, Article XXXI, Section 2(a) and (b). Martha 2010, p. 169. Ibid., 169–170.The following countries signed the Agreement: Republic of Hungary (13 Sept. 2011), Kingdom of Denmark (2 March 2012); Republic of Benin (April 5, 2012); Oriental Republic of Uruguay (28 Oct. 2012).
Bradlow 2010, p. 1.Bank for International Settlements. BIS Member Central Banks. http://www.bis.org/about/member_cb.htm.
Convention respecting the Bank for International Settlements. 1930. http://www.bis.org/about/convention-en.pdf. The said Convention contained an undertaking of Switzerland not to abrogate or amend the Charter for 15 years (see Articles 1 and 3) and provisions on dispute settlement (Article 2).
Constituent Charter of the Bank for International Settlements. 1930. https://www.bis.org/about/charter-en.pdf.
Statutes of the Bank of International Settlements. 1930, as amended on 7 Nov. 2016. https://www.bis.org/about/statutes-en.pdf.
Reineccius, H. First Eagle SoGenFunds, Inc., Mathieu, Pierre and La Societé Hippique de la Châtre v. Bank for International Settlements, “Partial Award on the Lawfulness of the Recall of the Privately Held Shares on 8 Jan. 2001”. Reports of International Arbitral Awards. 2002. Vol. XXIII, 183–251, paras 112 and 113. http://legal.un.org/riaa/cases/vol_XXIII/183-251.pdf.
Bantekas 2009, p. 34.ADB. 2010. “Proposed Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility : Establishment of Trust Fund and Capital Contribution. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors. Project Number: 44908-01”, para 33.
Krisch 2014, p. 1. Kaul and Mendoza 2003, p. 80. Kaul and Mendoza 2003, pp. 80–81. Krisch 2014, p. 4. Buchanan 1965, p. 13. Buchanan 1965, p. 13. Trachtman 2013, pp. 28–29.Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Resolution establishing the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (Adopted on 19 Nov. 1996), CTBT/MSS/RES/1; 27 Nov. 1996), Annex: “Text on the Establishment of a Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization”, Article 4. https://www.ctbto.org/fileadmin/user_upload/legal/CTBT-MSS-RES-1-e_01.pdf.
See the composition of the Global Fund Board, set forth in Article 7 of the Global Fund Bylaws. 2016. https://www.theglobalfund.org/media/6007/core_globalfund_bylaws_en.pdf.
Gavi. The Vaccine Alliance. http://www.gavi.org. Schermers and Blokker 2011, §69.UNWTO Statutes, Article 7, para 1. For full and associate membership, see UNWTO Statutes, Articles 5 and 6. See UNWTO Basic Documents. 2016. http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/unwtostatuteseng.pdf.
Hinricher 2004, p. 489.See Resolution 14 (Rev. Antalya). 2006. “Recognition of the Rights and Obligations of all Sector Members of the Union”. Collection of the Basic Texts of the International Telecommunication Union adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference, Edition 2015. (cited as “ITU Collection”), pp. 251–252. https://www.itu.int/pub/S-CONF-PLEN-2015. See also Resolution 170 (Rev. Busan). 2014. ITU Collection, pp. 689–690, and Resolution 187. 2014. “Review of the Current Methodologies and Development of a Future Vision for the Participation of Sector Members, Associates and Academia in the Activities of ITU”. ITU Collection, pp. 768–771.
ITU Collection No. 241A, 125. AIIB Articles of Agreement, Article 28.1(iii). Currently, Belize is the only country in this category. http://www.bcie.org/index.php?id=81&L=1. For a more detailed discussion, see Droesse , “Organizational Structures”, 91. Amerasinghe 2005, p. 9.On the concepts and criteria for membership, see as representative of many others and with detailed references the studies of Crawford 1977, pp. 93–182 and Crawford 2006. On issues of succession in relation to membership in international organizations, see with detailed references, Bühler 2001; and with regard to the IMF, Gold 1974.
Chen 2001, p. 25. Crawford 2006, p. 49.“Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, Advisory Opinion”, ICJ Reports, 2010, 403. http://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/141/141-20100722-ADV-01-00-EN.pdf.
Question whether the Cook Islands are Eligible to Receive a United Nations Development Programme Indicative Planning Figure (IPF) Independence Bonus—Distinction between Self-Governing Territories and Independent States under International Law. Memorandum addressed to the Chief of Division One, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations Development Programme. United Nations Juridical Yearbook 1979, pp. 172–174. http://legal.un.org/unjuridicalyearbook/pdfs/english/volumes/1979.pdf.
A good overview of the legal and constitutional situation of the Cook Islands is contained in ILO. 2015. “Cook Islands’ Application for Membership”. Background Paper for the International Labour Conference. Provisional Record 3–1. 104th Session, Geneva, June. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/%2D%2D-ed_norm/%2D%2D-relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_372015.pdf.
See Crawford 2006, pp. 67–71. Odendahl 2014, pp. 273–319, §5.See section on “Membership of regional economic integration organizations in FAO” in the Report of the Conference of FAO. 26th session. 9–27 November 1991. http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5587E/x5587e0b.htm#membership.
FAO Constitution, Article II, para 3 provides: The Conference may by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that a majority of the Member Nations of the Organization is present, decide to admit as a Member of the Organization any regional economic integration organization meeting the criteria set out in paragraph 4 of this Article, which has submitted an application for membership and a declaration made in a formal instrument that it will accept the obligations of the Constitution as in force at the time of admission [….].
See Crawford 2006, p. 283. Drower 1992, p. xvii.Ibid., xviii. The differences between the cited four categories have been elaborated by Fawcett: Colonies are British possessions which were acquired by settlement and are administered by the Crown in accordance with the provisions of the British Settlements Act, 1887, or were conquered by or ceded to the Crown and are administered by the Crown under its prerogative powers or under a specific Act of Parliament. A British protectorate is not part of His Majesty’s dominions and is therefore not a British possession, but foreign territory, over which the Crown exercises jurisdiction under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890. A British-protected state is a foreign territory, having a local ruler who has by treaty transferred responsibility for its external relations to the Crown. Trust territories of the United Kingdom are territories which have been placed by the Crown under the trusteeship system of the United Nations, in accordance with Chapter XII of the United Nations Charter, and of which His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom is the administering authority. Fawcett 1949, p. 88.
Drower 1992, p. xvii. Ibid., xviii.See commentary to Article 1 of the UPU Constitution. UPU. 2014. Organic Acts of the UPU. Berne. (cited as UPU Commentary). http://www.upu.int/uploads/tx_sbdownloader/actInFourVolumesConstitutionManualEn.pdf.
See Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Article XII, para 1.In fact, some effectively achieved independence within a few months after joining ADB. As for Hong Kong, China, however, it subsequently became an integral part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and its legal status can also no longer properly characterized as that of a dependency, but it remains a member of ADB independent of PRC’s membership.
This was already clearly set out by Otto Schachter, the Director of the UN General Legal Division, after the Executive Secretary of ECAFE, U Nyun, requested him on 10 Sept. 1965 to provide advice on the legal aspects of making the facilities of the proposed ADB available to assist ECAFE members such as Brunei and Hong Kong and dependent territories in the Asian region such as Fiji and Papua and New Guinea. This shows that the drafters of the ADB Charter were well aware that membership of dependent territories in ADB was not per se necessary to enable ADB to provide assistance to such dependent territories. In his legal opinion of 7 October 1965, Schachter said:
While indicating that all three alternatives would require consent on the part of the Metropolitan Power and the assumption by it of international responsibility for the fulfillment of any obligations which could devolve upon the territory, Schachter observed that the first alternative would require no special provision in the ADB Charter and could be based on the broadly worded authorization granted the Bank to provide or facilitate financing to any member, or agency, instrumentality or political subdivision thereof. The second option, on the other hand, involved issues of share capital and voting rights while the third option would only require a simple enabling clause expressly permitting the bank to provide or facilitate financing to Territories in the region not responsible for the conduct of their own foreign relations, with the consent of the Metropolitan State and under such conditions as the Board of Governors may determine.
He further elaborated on this in a second legal opinion of 15 October 1965:
In my letter of 7 October I also briefly touched on the question of granting a territory membership in its own right under a provision to be inserted in the draft charter. As I have I think made clear, such a provision is not necessary for the purpose of providing for the eligibility of such territories for assistance. There is, however, no legal obstacle to including a provision on these lines provided that the State internationally responsible grants its consent. Such membership or associate membership would give rise to problems of determining voting rights and possibly share capital for such territories and would require new provisions. Such membership arrangement entails a more complicated norm for providing for the extension of facilities to such territories and is not necessary for that purpose.
Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Adopted by General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 Dec. 1960. http://www.un.org/en/decolonization/declaration.shtml.
See Chen 2001, citing Reisman. Wesley 2003, p. 100. Now the separate countries of Kiribati and Tuvalu.ADB. 1970. Admission of the Republic of France to Membership in the Asian Development Bank (Resolution No. 31, adopted by ADB’s Board of Governors on 24 March) See also ADB. 1970. Membership of the Republic of France (Sec.M9-70, 17 Feb.).
Commonwealth of Australia. 1966. Instrument of Ratification of the Agreement Establishing the Asian Development Bank (signed by John Grey Corton, Acting Minister of State for External Affairs for the Commonwealth of Australia on 15 September).
See Article 1 of the Basic Law of Macau. http://www.umac.mo/basiclaw/english/ch1.html.See: Agreement Establishing the Asian Development Bank. Status of Ratifications. End Note 1. https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=X-4&chapter=10&clang=_en which refers, in addition to Hong Kong, to five other previously “non-autonomous territories” that became members of ADB.
ADB Charter, Article 3.3. See CDB Charter, Article 62(2). As indicated by Droesse , “Organizational Structures”, 97:While both the ADB and CDB charters allow membership of dependent territories, there are certain differences regarding their procedures for admitting dependent territories to membership. Both organizations require the presentation of an application for membership by the member responsible for the international relations of the applicant. While ADB requires that member to assume responsibility for all obligations of the applicant until such time that the applicant itself assumes such responsibility, CDB requires confirmation from said member that the dependent territory has authority to enter into a membership agreement with CDB and to assume the rights and obligations of the agreement. Thus, the state responsible for conducting the international relations of the dependent territory generally does not assume a legal obligation to CDB for the borrowings and other financial obligations of the dependent territory.
Baetens 2012, note 3. www.mpepil.com. See also, in great detail: Murray 2012.See Treaty and Charter of the East Africa Development Bank, Treaty Amending and Re-Enacting the Charter of the East African Development Bank. http://eadb.org/?wpdmdl=1540.
Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, the three original members specified in Article 2 of the EADB Treaty and Charter, and the Republic of Rwanda.
For the detailed list of B shareholders of EADB, see http://eadb.org/about-us/shareholding/.See Agreement Establishing the Corporation Andina di Fomento, Article 5, paras 1(A), (B), and (C). https://www.caf.com/media/1412720/agreement-establishment-caf-march-2012.pdf.
Regulations of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development as of 2007. Author’s copy. See Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Danida. http://um.dk/en/danida-en/.See Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. www.giz.de/en/html/our_services.html.
See KfW. KfW Group. https://www.kfw.de/KfW-Group/. Lamy 2013, p. xv. https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/aid4tradeglobalvalue13_e.pdf. Droesse , “Organizational Structures”, 59–177.See Articles of Incorporation of ICANN as revised on 21 Nov. 1998. https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/articles-en.
von Bogdandy et al. 2010, p. 14. von Bogdandy et al. 2010, p. 14. Hartwig 2010, p. 576.Proposal to Transition the Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the Global Multi-stakeholder Community IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG). March 2016. https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-stewardship-transition-proposal-10mar16-en.pdf.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration. “NTIA Finds IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal Meets Criteria to Complete Privatization”. Press Release. https://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2016/iana-stewardship-transition-proposal-meets-criteria-complete-privatization.
Stewardship of IANA Functions Transitions to Global Internet Community as Contract with U.S. Government Ends. https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-10-01-en.
ISO Statutes, Article 2.1. http://www.iso.org/iso/statutes.pdf. ISO membership manual. http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_membership_manual.pdf, 6. ISO Statutes, Article 3.1.1. http://www.iso.org/iso/statutes.pdf. Chuang 1972, p. 22. ISO Membership Manual, 6.Competence of Assembly regarding Admission to the United Nations, Advisory Opinion. ICJ Reports 1950, 4–57, 10. http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/9/1883.pdf.
Grant 2009, p. 87. See Grant 2009, Chapter 4, on “Admission to the United Nations”.“The agreement with UNESCO provides, in article II, that applications for membership by States not Members of the United Nations shall be immediately transmitted to the Economic and Social Council which ‘may recommend the rejection of such applications’. Any such rejection ‘shall be accepted’ by UNESCO. If no recommendation for rejection is made by the Council within six months, the application is governed by the normal procedure under the Constitution of UNESCO, that is to say, it becomes subject to a two-thirds majority vote of the General Conference of the agency, upon recommendation of its Executive Board.” See Repertory of Practice of United Nations. (1945–1954), Vol. 3 Extracts Relating to the Charter of the United Nations, Article 63, para 118, http://legal.un.org/repertory/art63/english/rep_orig_vol3-art63_e.pdf.
Similar provisions were also contained in the relationship agreement between ICAO, and the United Nations. This relationship agreement provided in Article II, that applications for membership from States other than those provided for in Articles 91 and 92(a) of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, namely States signatory to the Convention, States Members of the United Nations and States associated with them, and States which remained neutral during the Second World War, shall at once be referred to the General Assembly of the United Nations, which may, within one year, recommend rejection. Failing such a recommendation, the application is governed by the normal procedure set Civil Aviation, that is to say, it is open to approval by a four-fifths majority of the Assembly of ICAO, subject to such conditions as the Assembly may prescribe, and provided that in each case the assent of any State invaded or attacked during the Second World War by the State seeking admission shall be a necessary prerequisite for admission to membership. It appears that the aforementioned provision of the relationship agreement with the UN did not create any problems for ICAO. While there were cases where non-members of the UN were admitted to ICAO, the General Assembly did not reject such applications. As regards UNESCO, the relationship agreement with the UN was amended to dispense with the requirement of ECOSOC approval of membership applications of States who are not members of the UN.
“At its thirty-third session the Council [ECOSOC] approved the suggestion of UNESCO of an amendment calling for the deletion of article II of the Agreement between the United Nations and UNESCO, the adoption of which would eliminate the need for UNESCO to consult with the Council on applications of States not Members of the United Nations for membership in that Organization.” Repertory of Practice of United Nations. Supplement No. 3 (1959–1966), Vol. 2. http://legal.un.org/repertory/art63/english/rep_supp3_vol2-art63_e.pdf.
See Meron 1979, pp. 52–64.United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Executive Board. Hundred and thirty-first Session (131 EX/45, 18 May 1989). Item 9.4 of the provisional agenda. Application for the admission of Palestine as a Member State of UNESCO. https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/28ead5e67368b9ea852579180070e4d6/a49be78bcaadcc71852579220070828f?OpenDocument.
The Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Israel to UNESCO, forwarded on 18 May 1989 a letter regarding this matter to the Director-General of UNESCO, which was transmitted the following day by the Director-General to the Chairman of the Executive Board. UNESCO. Executive Board. 131st Session. Item 9.4 of the agenda (131 EX/INF. 7, 26 May 1989). http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000827/082713EO.pdf.
UNESCO. Records of the General Conference. 25th Session, Paris 1989, Vol. 1 Resolutions, 9–10, 9. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000846/084696E.pdf.
See UNESCO. Records of the General Conference. 36th Session, Paris, 25 Oct.–10 Nov. 2011, 79. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002150/215084e.pdf.
United Nations. 2008. “The Question of Palestine and the United Nations”. New York, iii. https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/DPI2499.pdf.
United Nations. “Application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations”. Note by the Secretary-General (Document A/66/371–S/2011/592; 23 Sept. 2011). https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/F6CF1ED25A5D8FE9852579170050C37F.
See Burgis-Kasthala 2014, p. 678, with further references.Russia Today. 2010. “UN membership door closed for Kosovo–Moscow”. 4 August. http://rt.com/politics/churkin-kosovo-un-resolution/.
See Wessel and Dekker 2015, pp. 293–318. IMF. 2009. “Minutes of Executive Board Meeting 09/10-1, 2 Feb. (19 May)”, 8.For example, Article 57 of the Agreement Establishing the Asian Development Bank provides: “Each member, in accordance with its juridical system, shall promptly take such action as is necessary to make effective in its own territory the provisions set forth in the Chapter and shall inform the Bank of the action which it has taken on the matter.”
Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea provides: “Treaties duly concluded and promulgated in accordance with the Constitution and the generally recognized rules of international law shall have the same effect as the domestic laws of the Republic of Korea.”
Article 45 of the INTERPOL Constitution of 1956 provides: “All bodies representing the countries mentioned in Appendix I shall be deemed to be Members of the Organization unless they declare through the appropriate governmental authority that they cannot accept this Constitution. Such a declaration should be made within six months of the date of the coming into force of the present Constitution.” INTERPOL. Constitution of the ICPO-INTERPOL (adopted by the ICPO-INTERPOL General Assembly at its 25th session, Vienna, 1956). https://www.interpol.int/About-INTERPOL/Legal-materials/The-Constitution.
Martha 2010, p. 160. IPU Statutes, Article 1. IPU Statutes, Article 3. See IPU Statutes, Article 17, para 1, and Article 18, para 1. IPU Statutes, Article 21(a). See Odello 2006, p. 387. Ibid., 387–388.For details, see OSCE. “Vienna Document 2011 on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures”. https://www.osce.org/fsc/86597?download=true.
OSCE. 2012. Decision No. 2/12 “Accession of Mongolia to the OSCE”. MC.DEC/2/12. 21 Nov. http://www.osce.org/mc/97736?download=true.
GEF Instrument, para 7 provides: “Any State member of the United Nations or of any of its specialized agencies may become a Participant in the GEF by depositing with the Secretariat an instrument of participation substantially in the form set out in Annex A. I….”
Ragazzi 2011, p. 495. Magliveras 2011, p. 90. E.g. Article 2 of the IOM Constitution provides:The Members of the Organization shall be: (a) the States being Members of the Organization which have accepted this Constitution according to Article 29, or to which the terms of Article 30 apply; (b) other States with a demonstrated interest in the principle of free movement of persons which undertake to make a financial contribution at least to the administrative requirements of the Organization, the rate of which will be agreed to by the Council and by the State concerned, subject to a two-thirds majority vote of the Council and upon acceptance by the State of this Constitution in accordance with its constitutional processes. https://www.iom.int/constitution#ch2.
In the case of UNWTO, for “sovereign states” that are eligible for full membership (UNWTO Statutes, Article 5), different procedures apply depending on whether states were full members of the International Union of Official Travel Organizations (IUOTO). Those who were full members, “shall have the right to become Full Members of the Organization, without requirement of vote, on formally declaring that they adopt the Statutes of the Organization and accept the obligations of membership. of IUOTO,” (UNWTO Statutes, Article 5, para 2). Article 5, para 3 of the UNWTO Statutes provides: “Other States may become Full Members of the Organization if their candidatures are approved by the General Assembly by a majority of two-thirds of the Full Members present and voting provided that said majority is a majority of the Full Members of the Organization.” Statutes of the World Tourism Organization, UNWTO. 2016. UNWTO Basic Documents, Vol. I. http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/130718basicdocumentsenweb.pdf. As regards the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the “BSEC is open to any State which desires to become a Member and is deemed to be able and willing to fulfill the principles and objectives of the BSEC as set forth in the present Charter. Applications for new membership shall be submitted to the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, hereinafter referred to as the Council, for consideration and approval according to the Rules of Procedure.”
ADB Charter, Article 3.ADB Charter, Article 57. “Each member, in accordance with its juridical system, shall promptly take such action as is necessary to make effective in its own territory the provisions set forth in the Charter.”
Article XX of the Convention on the IHO provides: After it has entered into force this Convention shall be open for accession by the Government of any maritime state which applies to the Government of the Principality of Monaco specifying the tonnage of its fleets, and whose admission is approved by two-thirds of the Member Governments. Such approval shall be notified by the Government of the Principality of Monaco to the Government concerned. The Convention shall enter into force for that Government on the date on which it has deposited its instrument of accession with the Government of the Principality of Monaco which shall inform the Member Governments and the President of the Directing Committee. https://www.iho.int/mtg_docs/com_wg/ISPWG/Documents/R11_iho_convention.pdf.
Magliveras 2011, p. 90.Admission of a State to the United Nations (Charter, Article 4), Advisory Opinion. ICJ Reports 1948, 57, 62. http://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/3/003-19480528-ADV-01-00-EN.pdf.
Franck, T. M. “Admission of a State to Membership in the United Nations (Advisory Opinions)”, para 7. www.mpepil.com.
International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion of 3 March 1959, 9. http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/9/1883.pdf.
Franck, T. M. “Admission of a State to Membership in the United Nations (Advisory Opinions)”, para 4.
See in particular Grant, who refers to the Committee on Admissions used in the early years for reviewing applications for membership in the UN, and the subsequent disuse of that Committee (52–62), and describes in Chapters 4, 5, and 6 the evolution of the admission criteria on the road to universality of the United Nations.
Magliveras 2011, p. 90. Wouters and de Meester 2007, pp. 154–155.European Commission. “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2011–2012”, 2. https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2011/package/strategy_paper_2011_en.pdf.
“Zu prüfen ist, ob Erweiterung und Vertiefung der EU nicht vielmehr in einem eher substitutionalen Verhältnis stehen, daß also mit jeder Erweiterungsrunde grundsätzlich ein Schritt zu weniger Vertiefungspotential gegangen wird. In diesem Sinne stehen Erweiterung und Vertiefung also in einer trade-off-Beziehung.” Schäfer 2007, p. 51.
“EU Accession Procedure”, 2.Commission of the European Communities. 2013. Report from the Commission to the Council on the preparedness of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Negotiate a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union. 18 Nov. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52003DC0692&from=EN.
This study is contained in the aforementioned 18 November 2013 Report from the Commission to the Council on the preparedness of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Negotiate a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union.
Article 49 of the TEU states: “Any European State which respects the values referred to in Article 2 and is committed to promoting them may apply to become a member of the Union. The European Parliament and national Parliaments shall be notified of this application. The applicant State shall address its application to the Council, which shall act unanimously after consulting the Commission and after receiving the consent of the European Parliament, which shall act by a majority of its component members. The conditions of eligibility agreed upon by the European Council shall be taken into account. The conditions of admission and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the Union is founded, which such admission entails, shall be the subject of an agreement between the Member States and the applicant State. This agreement shall be submitted for ratification by all the contracting States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.”
Pechstein and Kubicki 2001, pp. 197–240.European Commission. 2011. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Commission Opinion on Serbia’s application for membership of the European Union. COM (2011) 688 final. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2011/package/sr_rapport_2011_en.pdf.
Commission of the European Communities. 2004. Communication from the Commission. Opinion on Croatia’s Application for Membership of the European Union. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52004DC0257&from=EN.
European Commission. European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations. “Steps towards Joining”. https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/steps-towards-joining_en.
Balász 2014, p. 525.See European Commission. European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations. “Chapters of the Acquis”. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/policy/conditions-membership/chapters-of-the-acquis/index_en.htm.
See European Commission. “Steps Towards Joining”.See European Commission. “Steps towards Joining”. https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/steps-towards-joining_en. The Treaty regarding the “Accession of Croatia to the European Union” is reproduced in the Official Journal of the EU: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2012:112:FULL&from=EN.
Pechstein 2014, p. 839.Article 36.2 of the ADB Charter provides: “The Bank, its President, Vice-President(s), officers and staff shall not interfere in the political affairs of any member, nor shall they be influenced in their decisions by the political character of the member concerned. Only economic considerations shall be relevant to their decisions. Such considerations shall be weighed impartially in order to achieve and carry out the purpose and functions of the Bank.”
Handl 2001, p. 35. See Droesse , “Modalities of Multilateral Concessional Financing”, 196.Article 3 of the Statute of the Council of Europe provides: “Every member of the Council of Europe must accept the principles of the rule of law and of the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and collaborate sincerely and effectively in the realisation of the aim of the Council as specified in Chapter I.” http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/rms/0900001680306052.
See Duxbury, 126–137, on “Human rights, democracy and participation in Europe”.See OECD. 2007. “Roadmap for the Accession of Chile to the OECD Convention”. Doc. C(2007)100/FINAL C(2007)100/FINAL of 3 Dec. 2007 with further references. https://www.oecd.org/legal/41463062.pdf.
OECD. 2007. “A General Procedure for Future Accessions”. (adopted by the Council at its 1155th session of 10–13 May 2007). C(2007)31/FINAL, 16 May 2007. http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?doclanguage=en&cote=C(2007)31/Final.
European Parliament. “Official positions of the other Institutions and Organs - European Council”. Copenhagen European Council. 21–22 June 1993. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/enlargement/ec/cop_en.htm.
Pechstein 2014, note 8, p. 836. He further states in this context (Ibid.): “Die Achtung und Förderung der Werte des Article 2 EUV ist eine Voraussetzung bereits für die Zulässigkeit des Beitrittsantrags und nicht lediglich eine zwingende Voraussetzung für den Beitritt selbst. Art. 2 EUV stellte eine materiellrechtliche Fundamentalnorm der Europäischen Union dar. Es kann keine hinreichende Grundlage für die Beitrittsverhandlungen sein, dass der antragstellende Staat Werte wie Freiheitlichkeit, Demokratie, Menschenrechte sowie Rechtstaatlichkeit lediglich in Zukunft achten und fördern will.”
Hillion 2014, p. 558.In accordance with Article XI, para 1 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, the EU is one of the original members of the WTO.
See ITU. Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.itu.int/en/join/Pages/OLD_faqs.aspx.Each of the three sectors of ITU (Radiocommunications, Telecommunication Standardization and Telecommunication Development) “has a number of Study Groups related to the Sectors’ specific field. Organizations/entities can join any or all Sectors of ITU. Full Sector Members are entitled to participate in all of the Study Groups, while organizations/entities that have a specific focus can choose to participate in a single Study Group as an Associate. Academia, universities and their associated research establishments benefit from preferential rates, as do Sector Members from some developing countries.” ITU. ITU’S Evolving Membership.
See UNWTO Statutes, Article 3, paras 2 and 3. The detailed admission procedure for affiliate members is set out in World Tourism Organization. UNWTO Affiliate Members. “How to join?” http://affiliatemembers.unwto.org/content/how-join.
Ibid., para 4. Ibid., para 6. Ibid., para 7.ADB By-Laws. Section 16. “Application for Membership in the Bank. When submitting an application to the Board of Governors, the Board of Directors, after consultation with the applicant country, shall recommend to the Board of Governors the number of shares of capital stock to be subscribed and such other conditions as, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, the Board of Governors may wish to prescribe.”
ADB 2005, p. 2, paras 8 and 9. ADB 2005, para 4, footnote 2. See ADB Charter, Article 32.2.See the outline of a Resolution provided in ADB. Rules and Procedures for Membership in ADB. Appendix 9.
This declaration provides: “The territory of a colony or other Non-Self-Governing Territory has, under the Charter, a status separate and distinct from the territory of the State administering it; and such separate and distinct status under the Charter shall exist until the people of the colony or Non-Self-Governing Territory have exercised their right of self-determination in accordance with the Charter, and particularly its purposes and principles.” General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV). Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (A/8082) of 24 Oct. 1970. See http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/348/90/IMG/NR034890.pdf?OpenElement.
Crawford 2006, p. 618.This issue was discussed, in particular, in relation to Hong Kong. Being a possession of the British Crown, Hong Kong could “be best described as an entity with virtually no formal or de jure autonomy.” Olivier 1992–1993, pp. 61–88. The UK presented for that reason application for membership of Hong Kong in ADB on behalf of the government of Hong Kong, rather than on behalf of the crown colony of Hong Kong.
See the wording of Article 15.2 of the ADB Charter: “Where the recipient of loans or guarantees of loans is not itself a member, the Bank may, when it deems it advisable, require that the member in whose territory the project concerned is to be carried out, or a public agency or any instrumentality of that member acceptable to the Bank, guarantee the repayment of the principal and the payment of interest and other charges on the loan in accordance with the terms thereof.” (emphasis added)
See Droesse , “Organizational Structures”, 97, with further references. Sands and Klein 2009, p. 550. Schermers and Blokker 2011, §118. Amerasinghe 2005, p. 124. See amongst many others: Magliveras 1999; and Singh 1958, pp. 99–103. See regarding the above Schermers and Blokker 2011, §125.“Die Schaffung eines förmlichen Austrittsrechts durch den Vertrag von Lissabon lässt sich – auf den ersten Blick mag dies paradox wirken—verstehen als Konsequenz einer zumindest intendierten deutlichen Vertiefung der Integration durch diesen Vertrag. Verstanden als Realisierung der wichtigsten Ziele des gescheiterten Verfassungsvertrags mit anderen Mittlen, erhebt der Vertrag von Lissabon, mit dem die Eurpäische Union ja auch erstmal Rechtspersönlichkeit erhielt, den Anspruch einen entscheidenden Schritte nach vorne getan zu haben. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist es plausibel, den Mitgliedern die Möglichkeit einzuräumen, die schicksalhafte Einordnung in den weiterhin integrationsprogessiven Verbund regelkonform rückgängig machen zu können, bevor es dafür endgültig zu spät ist.” Pechstein 2014, p. 834.
Asthana, A, H. Stewart, and P. Walker. “May Triggers Article 50 with Warning of Consequence for UK”, The Guardian, 29 March 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/mar/29/theresa-may-triggers-article-50-with-warning-of-consequences-for-uk.
Douglas-Scott 2016, pp. 1019–1020. See also: Armstrong 2017. Droesse , “Organizational Structures”, 100, with further references.For details regarding the procedure set out in Article 7 of the TEU, please see Pechstein 2014, pp. 844–848.
Schermers and Blokker 2011, §148.“Sofern die auf Grundlage von Art. 7 EUV ergriffenen Sanktionen erfolglos geblieben sind und der betreffende Staat die Werte des Art. 2 EUV weiterhin dauerhaft missachtet (bspw durch Errichtung eines diktatorischen Regimes), muss auch in einem solchen Fall die Beendigung seiner Mitgliedschaft nach dem allgemeinen Völkerrecht möglich sein, um die Identität der Union zu wahren.” Pechstein 2014.
Droesse, “Organizational Structures”, 14 and 191, with further references. Bonucci 2011, pp. 248–249. Bonucci 2011, p. 252.