Alex Haines lectures at the International Court of Justice on human rights and international organisations

Alex Haines to give presentation at the International Court of Justice on the application of international human rights law to international organisations.

On Wednesday, 28 November 2018, Alex Haines will give a presentation in the Historical Reading Room of the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) in The Hague on the application of international human rights law to international organisations and their internal justice systems.

Discussion and Q&A will follow the presentation.

The invitation to the event has been extended to the employees of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the Peace Palace Library.

Abstract

International Administrative Tribunals (“IATs”) settle the internal disputes of international organisations (“IOs”) relating to employment issues and exist in the realm of the public international law system.

One of the reasons for IOs submitting to the jurisdiction of these specifically created IATs relates to international human rights law. It is at this intersection that the ICJ, the European Court of Human Rights and European Court of Justice, as well as the most established IATs – such as the World Bank Administrative Tribunal and the International Labour Organisation Administrative Tribunal – have pronounced themselves.

As important as the evolution of this area of law is (carved out by IATs) as well as the systems it regulates, it continues to be misunderstood, and international civil servants and the organisations they serve often understand them no better than citizens understand their own domestic court systems.

During this presentation, Alex will use examples drawn from his practice before ten IATs, both for staff members and staff associations on the one hand, and for international organisations on the other.

News 25 Oct, 2018