Book Chapter

Observations on the Desirability of an Enhanced International Legal Status of the Non-State Actor

Gal-Or, Noemi

2010

Overview

This chapter explores two main observations regarding the rights and obligations of non-state actors (NSAs) under international law. First, there is considerable disagreement as to what the position of the NSA is under international law; and second, flowing from that and from the fragmented state of international law, that there is an urgent doctrinal need for an integrated and comprehensive assessment of the status of the NSA in international law. Because it is indisputable that the NSA has already been recognized as enjoying a set of rights and being bound by certain obligations in international law, the chapter examines the desirability of charting international legal development towards further enhancement of the legal status already secured by the NSA. Since the legal system is essentially a social system which governs relations between and among social actors, rights and duties are meaningful only as reciprocal between these actors. This chapter demonstrates that much of the controversy yielded by the law-making status of non-state actors stems from an attempt to bolster the scope, the expertise and the legitimacy of international legal scholarship. It accordingly starts with some introductory remarks about the necessity to clearly explain how we understand the international legal system before venturing into any examination of the status of the actors involved therein. In contrast, positivists defend the continued relevance of inter-state international law and argue that current categories are sufficient to grapple with the problems raised by the growing role of non-state actors. The introduction of non-state actors in the scheme of international law-making through their elevation to the status of lawmaker provides a great advantage in that it allows scholars to extend the limits of international law. It has addressed three reasons explaining why international legal scholars are so inclined to defend the law-making status of non-state actors.

• Publisher: Routledge
• ISBN: 1409403165, 9781409403166