The Responsibility of Member States in Connection with Acts of International Organizations: Assessing the Recent Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract

This article maps the approach of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the responsibility of Member States for the acts of international organizations. It compares this approach with the International Law Commission’s approach in the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations. It concludes that the Court’s requirement of State action, coupled with the application of a principle of equivalent rights protection, goes some way to ease concerns over the erosion of the almost hallowed principle that Member States should generally not be held respon- sible for the acts of international organizations. However, the Court’s recent development of a principle pursuant to which Member States could be held responsible in case of a structural lacuna as regards the protection of rights within the organization’s internal dispute-settlement mechanism is reason for some concern, as it appears to negate the separate legal personality of the organization.