The Paradox of International Institutional Law

• Published in: International organizations law review 2008-01, Vol.5 (1), p.151-173
• Main Author: Klabbers, Jan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Disciplines; Institutions; International Law; Transnationalism
• ISSN: 1572-3739; 1572-3747; 1572-3739
• DOI: 10.1163/157237408X326138

This issue's Forum is devoted to research on the law of international organizations. The articles in this Forum originated as contributions to a conference held at Leiden University, 12-13 October 2007. One of the purposes of this conference was to present & discuss research & new developments in this field. After years of silence, over the last few years a number of general textbooks on the law of international organizations have been published, both new editions of long existing books & entirely new works. The idea came to invite the authors of these books to discuss our work in this area, to share our ideas & perspectives, to look at past events & prospects for the future of the law of international organizations as a separate field of study. Some of these authors prepared papers for the conference; others did so later for the purpose of this Forum. The articles in this Forum demonstrate that the law of international organizations continues to exist as a specialized field within the larger discipline of public international law. The idea that there is more than only the law of specific international organizations, that there is also something "overarching" called international institutional law, is broadly shared, although Jan Klabbers questions whether this is really a separate discipline. Adapted from the source document.