Global Administrative Law Response Paper

Jessica Darku

1. Actors in Global Governance: main types and examples (max1.000 words)

Global governance encompasses activities that transcend national boundaries at the

international, transnational, and regional levels and is based on rights and rules that are enforced
through a combination of economic and moral incentives.
The Post World War I order saw to the emergence of an increased amount of economic, social,
and cultural interconnectivity between states (Globalization). The establishment of the League of
Nations as an organization that attempted to deal with international crises in a peaceful and
cohesive manner. Although it inevitably failed, the creation of an organization driven towards
dealing with interstate crises in a peaceful manner to avoid military aggression helped to pave the
way for the creation of certain institutions such as the United Nations, The International Criminal
Court and The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The role of Non-State
Actors (Transnational Actors) in Global Governance has increased as the world became more
globalised. These include NGOS, Multinational Corporations and Private Financial Institutions.
According to the UN Department of Global Communications, an NGO is "a not-for profit, voluntary
citizen's group that is organized on a local, national or international level to address issues in support of the
public good". Their core tasks are to alleviate suffering and to better both the life of human beings
and the conditions in their environment (Vakil 1997, Boli and Thomas 1997). In 1945 at the
drafting of the UN Charter in San Francisco, the wording covering the U.N.'s role on human rights,
economic and social questions, and equality for women was strengthened by NGOs. Furthermore,
they were given consultative access to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It was
presumed that only a handful of trade union federations and global commercial organizations
would be taken up however, overtime there was a broader diversity of groups.
Over 3,400 NGOs are currently recognised by the UN and as their number increased, so have
their rights of participation. They were initially limited to the ECOSOC and most of its related
agencies however they now have formally approved participation rights in the General Assembly
body, the Human Rights council and all special UN conferences. Although they have no formal
rights in the policymaking bodies as States are sensitive about their prerogatives such as in the
U.N. Security Council and in the global economic institutions -- the World Trade Organization, the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, there are existing flexible procedures that make
it possible for NGOs to have access both to the staff of the international organizations and to
government delegates. At the moment, they have profound influence over environmental policy,
women's issues, development, and human rights are held by NGOs, allowing them to lobby
individual governments and the media to set the UN’s agenda. They undertake detailed committee
work, contributing text to strengthen international treaties and lobby in New York and Geneva to
obtain U.N. endorsement of their policy goals. In order to execute these tasks NGOs, fulfil various
roles: they can operate as implementers by providing services and goods, they can function as
catalysts by lobbying for and advocating change and they can be partners to other actors in efforts
of, for example, capacity building (Lewis 2001, Anheier 2005: 174-5).
The term intergovernmental organization (IGO) refers to an entity created by treaty, involving
two or more nations, to work in good faith, on issues of common interest. The first IGO created
was the League of Nations in 1920 as a term of the Treaty of Versailles. This set the precedent for
the creation of its successor The United Nations and others like it such as the European Union, The
Arab League and ECOWAS. There has also been an expansion of IGOs in other areas such as
Maritime, Agriculture, Fisheries, Finance, Trade and Customs. The UN model has been extended to
regional levels with the creation of IGOs such as the Arab League, the Organization of American
States (OAS), and the African Union (AU) and IGOs like the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), the Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR), the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have
extended it to subregional affairs.
Regional IGOs work to improve the quality of life for people in a given region by encouraging
economic development, facilitating trade, and/or enhancing security. They aim to solve crises by
enabling cooperation and negotiation between neighbouring states and by promoting common
interests. Regional IGOs may become involved in any issue of common interest to states in the
region, such as protection, trade, climate change, migration, or human trafficking. Military
alliances tend to focus on the coordination of military policy, while economic IGOs often focus
more on promoting trade and economic progress. IGOs are mainly composed of democratic states
in order to promote and reinforce democratic norms, punishing member states that stray from
democratic practices. The African Union took just such steps when it responded to the 2013
military coup in Egypt by suspending Egypt’s membership in the IGO.
In my opinion, the emergence of Non-State Factors such as NGOs and IGOs have seen to the
betterment of society. Before the creation of such organisation, the development of laws, treaties
and policymaking were left in the hands of an elite few with little chances of accountability. Since
the creation of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in 1863, the League of
Nations in 1920 and the United Nations in 1945 aided with the spread of Globalisation and Global
Governance, have seen to the establishment of certain policies such as the Convention against
torture in 1984, the creation of the International Criminal Court and the promotion of the rights of
women.

Bibliography
Benedict Kenneth, International Encyclopaedia of the Social & Behavioural Sciences (Second
Edition), 2015, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/global-governance
Benedict Kenneth, in International Encyclopaedia of the Social & Behavioural Sciences, 2001
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/global-governance
Willets Peter, The Role of NGOs in Global Governance, World Politics Review, 2011,
https://archive.globalpolicy.org/ngos/ngos-and-the-un/50787-the-role-of-ngos-in-global-
governance.html
Conzelmann Thomas, The Ashgate Research Companion to Non-State Actors, Reporting and Peer
Review in the Implementation of International Rules: What Role for Non-State Actors? 2011,
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315613369-31/reporting-peer-
review-implementation-international-rules-role-non-state-actors-thomas-conzelmann?
context=ubx
Wikipedia, Non-governmental organization, updated 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-
governmental_organization#References (Accessed: 02/01/2023)
Wikipedia, List of intergovernmental organizations, updated 2022,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intergovernmental_organizations (Accessed: 02/01/2023)
Mark Carl Rom, Masaki Hidaka, Rachel Bzostek Walker, Introduction to Political Science, OpenStax,
Houston, Texas, https://openstax.org/books/introduction-political-science/pages/1-introduction
Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-political-science/pages/15-4-how-do-
regional-igos-contribute-to-global-governance

2. The Globalization of Law: Theories and Topics (max 1.000 words)

Wikipedia defines Globalization as the process of interaction and integration among people,
companies, and governments worldwide. After the Cold War, bipolarity has been scrapped as
multipolarity has been adopted resulting in a world consisting of multiple powers, the usual norm
in human history. The Industrial Revolution saw to a shift from rural to urbanisation to
Globalisation and the development of a contemporary society consisting of various economic,
cultural, and social strata. Law therefore had to change in order to accommodate this new order.
As the world became more globalised, there was an increase in the necessity of laws and policies
in order to prevent crises and to create a guide for certain issues such as trade, human rights,
finance, internet and international relations. Over the years, Human Rights has become a global
issue resulting in an increase in international legislation and protective measures. This can be
traced to the 1864 Geneva Convention which highlights the law of war and humanitarian war. The
end of World War I saw to provisions for the rights of minorities which were included in the
treaties. There was great development after World War II as the atrocities committed during it led
to the creation of the 1948 Universal declaration of Human Rights which opened the gate for more
specific legislation and conventions such as the 1979 Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, the
1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ rights, the 1965 Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Racial Discrimination and the 1980 Convention on the Elimination on all form of
Discrimination against women. There has been an acknowledged international consensus that
even regimes that have been known to be undemocratic and dictatorial have strived to legitimise
their actions as guaranteeing human rights before the UN Commission of Human Rights or the
Human Rights Council.
The implementation of Human Rights treaties is overseen by various international organisations-
The United Nations, The Council of Europe, The Organisation of American States, The African
Union. They have enhanced supervisory powers which enables them to conduct investigations.
Found in the scope of human rights are advanced examples of international authorities who have
the characters of sincere courts opening their doors to persons whom have had their rights
deprived of them: the European Court of Human Rights and The Inter-American Court.
On the other hand, global human rights does not always involve international organisations and
can be settled at the domestic level. In every democratic system, human rights treaties can be
invoked at the national level, even against private persons. the European Convention on Human
Rights, in some legal systems, has had a direct impact on the fact that it can be invoked on a day-
to-day basis in the domestic courts.
The standards of Human Rights can differ from state to state, convention to convention, especially
in cases involving religious rights and gender equality. Even within the most integrated of systems,
the harmonisation of rules and legislation in relation to human rights can varies depending on the
issues. To quote Mireille Delmas-Marty “Harmonisation is rather weak in those cases that involve
morality and religion, and stronger where the authority and impartiality of the system is in
question.” Although there are variations in the rights of certain states and conventions, there are
basic rights that absolutely cannot be denied of individuals: the right to life, the prohibition of
torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, the prohibition of slavery and the principle of
non-retroactivity in criminal matters.
It is against the State that human rights are fought for and protected. Global Human Rights
challenges the legal prerogative of the state. The UN ultimately accepted that if the state
committed serious violations to human rights there would be cause to intervene as the principal of
non-interference in the internal affairs of states can no longer be invoked. Traditionally States
have immunity, which vanishes when the issue of its upkeep of human rights is called into
question. This was the case for Haiti and Rwanda in 1994.
Human Rights has never been so categorised in human history as they are now. The emphasis on
the separation of rights according to men, women and children whilst retaining the rights of the
individual shows great depth.
Bibliography
Auby, Jean-Bernard, Globalisation, Law and the State, 2017, 1st Edition, Bloomsbury Publishing