What are the various Actor in International Law?

Traditionally, international law dealt only with the relations between states, and states were the only actors, creators of the international law. But, after Second World War, everything has changed. The new actors were created and they began to play a big role in International Law (as creators of law). Who are these actors?

First, let’s begin with States: States play the central and leading role in creation of international law. If one state wants to play a role on creating international law as one of the independent states, first she have to be recognised by other states. She has to meet ‘criteria for statehood’. These are:

1. Defined territory: states must have a defined territory.
2. Permanent population: she also must have permanent population.
3. Independent government: she must be controlled by an independent government.
4. Relations with other states: she must have capacity to enter into relations with other states.

The application of criteria is often subject to political considerations, however. Breakaway regions of countries often meet or are on the way to meeting these criteria, such as Kosovo, the Albanian-majority province of Serbia, or Chechnya, part of Russia, but are not recognized as states by the international community.

Another important consideration is state representation, where more than one government tries to represent a single state. For example, even though the Taliban religious movement effectively controlled Afghanistan prior to the U.S. invasion in 2001, Afghanistan was represented in the UN by the government that had been deposed by the Taliban but still claimed to be the country’s legitimate rulers.

International Organizations: International organizations, known also as intergovernmental organizations, are created between two or more State governments. It may be established by a constituent document such as a charter, a treaty or a Convention, which  signed by the founding members. But, International organisations must be distinguished from treaties. Some treaties (the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or, in the 1947-1995 period, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)) do not establish an international organization. They are only ad hog commissions. After 1960’s, the role of international organisations begin to increase, they began to play a big role on creating international law. International organisations developed  from the need of nations and governments to have a neutral discussions in order to make a collective decission, not alone. Some states created international organisations only for a balance of power.

Intrenational organisations differ from each other by membership criteria. Membership of some organisations is open to all the nations of the world, but some is limited for only a particular region. Membership of others are based on cultural and historical backround.

International organizations also differ with their operate systems. Some International organizations operate by making decisions on the basis of one vote for each member-state (for example: in the General Assembly of UN each state has one vote), some make decisions on a consensus or unanimity basis (in the Security Council, five states are permanent members and have a veto over any action), while still others have weighted voting structures based on security interests or monetary donations (The World Bank arranges its voting according to the Member State’s shareholding status, which is based on the size of the state’s economy. There are more than 500 international organizations that deal with a wide variety of topics requiring international cooperation, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Universal Postal Union, the International Organization for Standardization, and the International Organization for Migration.

The purposes of International organisations are written in their documents of creation. They can be: health care, environmental protection, human rights, economic development and etc.

Non-State Actors: They are special-interest groups on an international level, which are unelected and unaccountable to any public oversight, even though they claim to speak for the public as a whole.

We know that Westphalian system mentioned only about the role of nation states. But after Globalization procces, these organizations also begin to act as the actors of international law. Because of it, Westphalian lost his power. Progress in technology also has increased the effectiveness of these organisations. Individuals living in indifferent countries can now network with one another, and because of it, such organisations now can publish information on an extensive level.

The term non-governmental actors also wildly used in Cotonou Agreement. These agreements were created between the European Union  and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries. They used this term in order to develop the relations between Non-state actors of these countries. According to Article 6 of the Cotonou Agreement, non-state actors include:

v  Civil society in all its diversity, according to national characteristics.

v  Economic and social partners, including trade union organisations and;

v  The private sector.

There are some types of Non-State Actors:

1)Non-Governmental Organizations: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), also called civil society organizations, are groups (formed by individuals, with no participation of  any government) which also can be called as an actor of international law. They are not subjects of international law (Committee of the Red Cross is exception). The number of  NGOs is more than 40,000. national numbers are more than 40,000  (Russia-277,000 NGOs, India-2 million NGOs). The role of such organisations is increased with the anti-slavery movement and the movement for women's suffrage and reached a peak at the time of the World Disarmament Conference. However, the phrase "non-governmental organization" only came into popular use with the creating of article 71 of Chapter 10 of the United Nations Charter, which deal with such organisations. The aim of this article is to increase the relations between UN and Non-governmental organisations. Globalisation during 20th also plays a big role on importance of NGOs.

Some NGOs have a big impact on environmental affairs (for example: Greenpeace work on climate change), some on human rights (the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won Nobel prize for its works against landmines) and etc. These days the impact of NGOs has grown.

2) Multinational Corporations (MNCs) : Multinational corporations (MNCs), also sometimes called Transnational corporations (TNCs), are playing an increased role in the development of international law. These corporations work in at least two countries. Sometimes their budget is more than of some countries. They have a big influence on international relations and local economies. They also play an effective role in Globalisation. They just want international law to protect their interest. That’s why UN both regulates and works with these corporations.

There also micro- multinationals corporations. They are known as litlle businesses. Because of it, they differ from big Multinational Corporations. Internet tools like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ebay, Skype and Amazon make it easier for the micro-multinationals to reach potential customers in other countries.

3) Terrorist Organizations : There exist many armed non-state actors, opposition groups, that operate without state control and are involved in trans-border conflicts. One of such actor is Terrorist Organisations. As we know that this is one of the big probem of the world. These groups begin to exist after 18th. But, after 20th , they increase their power and became more powerfull armed organisations, which is not under control of the state and which fight not only with state , but also with non-state actors. They aim is to change state decisions with violations, with attacking on individuals.

There also some Criminal Organisations. For example: drug cartels (Gulf Cartel).

3)Individuals: After 19th , Individuals also became actors of international law. Because, they have both rights and responsibilities under international law. It mean that all individuals have basic rights that cannot be violated. At the same time, individual responsibility under international law has been established, first at the Nuremburg trials and recently at the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court, the first permanent international institution to hold individuals responsible for violations of the laws of armed conflict. There are a lot of individuals, which have a big influence on international relations. For example: Viktor Anatolyevich Bout (the Merchant of Death). He is a Russian former GRU major and arms dealer. Bout is suspected of supplying arms to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and of supplying huge arms shipments into various civil wars in Africa with his own private air fleet. He also supplied the rebels in Africa with arms.

Other Non-state Actors are: The International Media, Armed Groups (rebel opposition forces, militias, and warlords), Religious Groups, Transnational Diaspora communities and etc.