International organization

[7] In 1935, Pitman B. Potter defined international organization as "an association or union of nations established or recognized by them for the purpose of realizing a common end".

Treaties are formed when lawful representatives (governments) of several states go through a ratification process, providing the IGO with an international legal personality.

Intergovernmental organizations in a legal sense should be distinguished from simple groupings or coalitions of states, such as the G7 or the Quartet.

Some are more general in scope (the United Nations) while others may have subject-specific missions (such as INTERPOL or the International Telecommunication Union and other standards organizations).

In the course of many court cases where private parties tried to pursue claims against international organizations, there has been a gradual realization that alternative means of dispute settlement are required as states have fundamental human rights obligations to provide plaintiffs with access to court in view of their right to a fair trial.

[20][21] In this regard, immunity from national jurisdiction necessitates that reasonable alternative means are available to effectively protect employees' rights;[22] in this context, a first instance Dutch court considered an estimated duration of proceedings before the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization of 15 years to be too long.

[23] An international organization does not pay taxes, is difficult to prosecute in court and is not obliged to provide information to any parliament.

[24] The United Nations focuses on five main areas: "maintaining peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, supporting sustainable development, and upholding international law".

A few UN special agencies are very centralized in policy and decision-making, but some are decentralized; for example, the country-based projects or missions' directors and managers can decide what they want to do in the fields.

States then became the main decision makers who preferred to maintain their sovereignty as of 1648 at the Westphalian treaty that closed the 30 Years' War in Europe.

This was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945.

When defined as "organizations with at least three state parties, a permanent headquarters or secretariat, as well as regular meetings and budgets", the number of IGOs in the world increased from about 60 in 1940 to about 350 in 1980, after which it has remained roughly constant.