A comparative study of the international legal personalities of collective security and defence organisations 1919-2005

Abstract

International collective security and defence organisations are a phenomenon of the twentieth century. Their development may be directly attributed to the two world wars that divided the global community of nations, extinguished part of its peoples and shifted previously established borders. Undoubtedly, these wars, and the Cold War that ensued, all left their indelible mark on history but what are the resultant characteristics of the implied International Legal Personalities (ILPs) and legal capacities of the collective security and defence organisations that owe their origins largely to those conflicts? Is the ILP of each organisation qualitatively different and their legal capacities unique? Moreover, did the ILPs and legal capacities of these organisations change fundamentally over time or was there limited change in their status in International Law (IL), and if so, why? Were shifts in the characteristics of their implied ILPs and legal capacities a consequence of treaty amendments, judicial decisions, acts of non-judicial organs or policy changes in the organisation and subsequent practice? Furthermore, how do events shape the implied ILP and legal personality of these organisations? With the concretisation of the doctrine of implied powers and a simultaneous general reluctance on the part of States to amend the constitutive provisions of such organisations, this process of implied ILP and legal capacity acquisition, formulation and maintenance may be attributed to, or regarded as, part of the development of customary IL. Another aspect studied is the extent to which collective security and defence organisations are bound by jus cogens and whether they have erga omnes obligations and if so, whether their ILPs and legal capacities have been expanded commensurate