Volume 435 - Recueil des cours

Rethinking the United Nations: 75 and Beyond, by Nawaf SALAM, Judge at the International Court of Justice

What remains of the world that existed in 1945 when the United Nations was founded? Clearly not much! The world has changed, and new socio-political realities have emerged. Hence, the fundamental question that arises today is whether this post-second world war organisation can still meet the different and complex challenges of our time. It was this difficult question that Judge Nawaf Salam tried to answer in a lecture he gave at The Hague Academy of International Law during its 2023 summer session.

Drawing on his unique and long experience as a practitioner and insider in the three main organs of the United Nations (General Assembly, Security Council and International Court of Justice), Judge Salam identified the main changes in the contemporary international order and the challenges they pose for the United Nations. Notwithstanding its past shortcomings, owing to its universal membership, its general purpose, the legitimacy it brings, its neutrality and impartiality, and its norm-setting advantages, the United Nations remains at the centre of such efforts and is needed more than ever. both as a forum and a tool. However, in his opinion, it is only a reinvigorated - or better, a reformed - United Nations that could live up to the new challenges of our changing times.

Le rôle du droit international dans le contrôle des sentences arbitrales, par Dominique HASCHER, Juge international à la Cour suprême de
Singapour

L’introduction du droit international dans le contrôle des sentences révèle la force d’attraction de ce droit quand la sentence lui est soumise. Cette attraction révèle qu’il n’est pas possible de faire abstraction de l’ordre juridique international qui a donné naissance à la sentence dont les objectifs et la cohérence sont mieux préservés qu’avec le droit national. Le droit international peut aussi s’inviter, même si la sentence ne lui est pas soumise. Un droit international plus conquérant ne doit cependant pas déborder le contrôle. Le recours aux règles d’interprétation de la Convention de Vienne sur le droit des traités et au principe de proportionnalité démontre que l’intervention du droit international joue un rôle modérateur. Les principes mobilisés empruntent à plusieurs ordres juridiques qui se trouvent en réseau dans l’ordre international. Ils sont un langage universel et des éléments de communication. Une jurisprudence ouverte à l’influence du droit international suppose d’entreprendre une motivation qui parle aux autres et la conscience de participer à la sécurisation de la justice arbitrale. Dans cette perspective, le contrôle ne servirait plus qu’à écarter les sentences qu’on ne peut accueillir. On aura ainsi évolué vers une reconnaissance d’emblée des sentences.

Legal Facets of the Practice of International Organizations, by Niels BLOKKER, Professor at Leiden University

The aim of this special course is to discuss a number of legal facets of the practice of international organizations. A first legal facet is ‘practice as a rule’. Here, the notion of ‘established practice’ will be analyzed. The second legal facet covered by this course is ‘practice as a power’, discussing the power generating capacity of the practice of international organizations. The third legal facet concerns practice of international organizations as an interpretative device. The fourth and fifth legal facet will analyze how the International Court of Justice and the International Law Commission have dealt with the practice of international organizations in their work.