THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE AREA OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The article reviews the controversial aspects of the issue of whether the international organizations are bound by the human rights obligations, such as the very existence of corresponding obligations, their legal nature, as well as their limits. Separately, the article raises the question of what value the obligations of the member‑states of the international organizations in the area of human rights have for the content of legal capacity of such organizations. The article critically analyzes the main lines of argumentation used in the Russian and foreign science of the international law in order to substantiate the answer to the posed questions. The corresponding analysis is made taking into account the special legal nature of the international human rights obligations, the specific features of various sources of such obligations, the current trends in development of the international law, such as development of the institution of responsibility of the international organizations, expansion of the legal capacity of the international organizations, strengthening of the “supranationality” elements in their legal nature. The conclusions presented in the work are also based on a resort to the practice of the international bodies and international organizations. Relying on the results of the study, it is concluded that despite of the fact that legal status of a particular international organization is determined taking into account the principle of specialty, in the field of human rights, along with treaty obligations on human rights arising from the constitutive documents of the organization and from its international treaties, the international organization as an independent member of the international community is bound also by obligations from general international law. As it has been shown, the question of whether the international organizations are bound by the international human rights treaty obligations of their member‑states, does not find an unambiguous answer in the science of the international law or in the international practice. At the same time, the research makes it possible to identify and describe the international legal principles and instruments, which have the potential to resolve the issue whether the international organizations are bound with the treaty obligations of their member‑states in the area of human rights.

human rights, international human rights law, international organizations, international obligations, international treaties, international customs, obligations erga omnes.

Lipkina N. N. The international legal obligations of the international organizations in the area of human rights // Business. Education. Law. 2018. No. 4 (45). Pp. 313–318. DOI: 10.25683/VOLBI.2018.45.457.