NGOs in international law: consequences of unrecognised subjectivity

Abstract

The thesis aims at analysing the role of non-governmental organisations in international law, and the way their activities have been affected by the non-recognition of subjectivity under the international system, according to the classic positivist legal doctrine. The first chapter will analyse the informal positioning of NGOs in international law. Yet, the fact that NGOs have developed arrangements with some major IGOs, will also be illustrated. Chapter two will focus on the consequences of non-subjectivity from a perspective of NGOs as rights-holders, also underlying the restricting operational space. The third chapter will illustrate the role of NGOs in SAR activities in the Mediterranean. The aim is to demonstrate the negative impact that the nonexistence of international instruments, regulating the actions of NGOs, has had on the organisations and the success of SAR operations. The final chapter will examine the activism of NGOs in the creation, protection, implementation of human rights and environmental law, demonstrating their significance, despite their formal status under the international system.