Amnesty International and Non-Governmental Organisations

In one line

A non-governmental organisation is a private association, not a subject of international law and not a party to treaties or to cases, and its influence comes from the consultative gateway in article 71 of the Charter, from expert reporting, and from the pressure of accurate publicity.

What an NGO is, and what it is not

A non-governmental organisation is constituted under the municipal law of some State, ordinarily as an association, a society or a company limited by guarantee. It is not created by treaty, and that single fact settles most of its legal position.

It is not a subject of international law. As [Subjects of International Law] sets out, the entities that hold rights and duties directly under international law are States, and, since Reparation for Injuries, international organisations created by States to the extent their functions require. An NGO is neither.

Consequences that follow, each with its provision.

It cannot conclude a treaty. Article 2(1)(a) of the Vienna Convention confines treaties to agreements between States, and article 3 preserves the force of agreements with other subjects of international law, which an NGO is not.

It cannot be a party before the International Court. Article 34(1) of the Statute: only States may be parties in cases before the Court.

It cannot vote in any organ of the United Nations. Article 71 authorises consultation and nothing more.

It has no immunities. Its staff abroad are private persons subject to the local law, unlike the officials in [The Secretariat and the Secretary-General] protected by Charter article 105.

The single treaty-based exception. The International Committee of the Red Cross is an association under Swiss law, and yet the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Protocols confer functions on it by name, so its position rests on treaty and not merely on article 71. It is the standing counter-example to the proposition that private bodies never appear in the operative provisions of treaties, and it proves the rule by being the exception States created deliberately.

The gateway: article 71 of the Charter

The Economic and Social Council may make suitable arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations which are concerned with matters within its competence. Such arrangements may be made with international organizations and, where appropriate, with national organizations after consultation with the Member of the United Nations concerned.

This is the only place in the Charter where non-governmental organisations appear, and everything in the modern system of civil society participation grows from it.

Read its limits.

Consultation, not membership. The organisation may be heard; it does not sit and does not vote.

Matters within the Council's competence, which by article 62 are economic, social, cultural, educational, health and related matters, and human rights.