Symposium: Theorizing International Organizations Law

• Klabbers, Jan 1

Abstract

This article, part of the symposium on ‘theorizing international organizations law’, discusses the work (and a little of the life and influence) of Henry G. (Hein) Schermers, arguably the leading functionalist international organizations lawyer of the post-war era. The article discusses how Schermers’ work solidified and consolidated functionalism and unwittingly laid bare its ‘Achilles heel’. Confronted with the growing popularity of human rights and keenly devoted to human rights, Schermers faced a dilemma when the possible responsibility of international organizations for human rights violations came up – a dilemma his functionalism was unable to solve. Therewith, zooming in on Schermers’ handling of the dilemma confirms that functionalist international organizations law is unable to address the responsibility of international organizations towards third parties. International organizations law will need to find different theoretical resources in order to come to terms with responsibility.

• 1University of Helsinki, Finland