The Legal Framework of the OSCE

A detailed examination of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and its position as an informal international organisation.

Mateja Steinbrück Platise (Edited by), Carolyn Moser (Edited by), Anne Peters (Edited by)

9781108483858, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 May 2019

392 pages
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.5 cm, 0.68 kg

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the world's largest regional security organisation, possesses most of the attributes traditionally ascribed to an international organisation, but lacks a constitutive treaty and an established international legal personality. Moreover, OSCE decisions are considered mere political commitments and thus not legally binding. As such, it seems to correspond to the general zeitgeist, in which new, less formal actors and forms of international cooperation gain prominence, while traditional actors and instruments of international law are in stagnation. However, an increasing number of voices - including the OSCE participating states - have been advocating for more formal and autonomous OSCE institutional structures, for international legal personality, or even for the adoption of a constitutive treaty. The book analyses why and how these demands have emerged, critically analyses the reform proposals and provides new arguments for revisiting the OSCE legal framework.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Legal uncertainty and indeterminacy – immutable characteristics of the OSCE? Carolyn Moser and Anne Peters
Part II. The Quest for International Legal Personality: 2. Political dynamics and institutional reforms in the OSCE Christian Nünlist and Petri Hakkarainen
3. The role of the organisation in asserting legal personality: the position of the OSCE secretariat on the OSCE legal status Lisa Tabassi
4. Legal personality of the OSCE – past developments, status quo and future ambitions Helmut Tichy
5. 'It's politics, stupid': an international relations perspective on strengthening the legal framework of the OSCE Tanja A. Börzel and Ingo Peters
6. Domestic implications of the OSCE's legal personality under Russian constitutional law Gleb Bogush
Part III. Manifestations of the Legal Position under International Law: 7. Revisiting questions of organisationhood, legal personality and membership in the OSCE: the interplay between law, politics and practice Niels M. Blokker and Ramses A. Wessel
8. The OSCE's domestic legal status: an exploration of relevant international law sources Cedric Ryngaert
9. Privileges and immunities of the organization for security and co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Isabelle Pingel
10. The external relations of the OSCE Laurence Boisson de Chazournes and Andrzej Gadkowski
11. The international responsibility of the OSCE Lorenzo Gasbarri
Part IV. The Legal and Institutional Framework as a Governance Issue: 12. The OSCE as a case of informal international lawmaking? Olivia Herman and Jan Wouters: 13. Conceptualising accountability in the legal and institutional framework of the OSCE Carolyn Moser
14. Legitimate governance as a privilege and price for the autonomy of international organisations Mateja Steinbrück Platise
Part V. Conclusions: 15. Transformation of the OSCE legal status Mateja Steinbrück Platise and Anne Peters.

Subject Areas: IT & Communications law [LNQ], International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Public international law [LBB], International relations [JPS]