International organisations and the pluralist international system: threatening the role of human rights?

This chapter examines the changed nature of the international legal system from one originally about the bilateral relationships between sovereign states to one that encompasses numerous actors, many of which have complex and multifaceted inter- national identities. It argues that the international system has become increasingly pluralist but that the legal framework has not evolved to address this. The chapter does this by examining the Law of Responsibility and, most particularly, its more recent expansion to address the actions of international organisations. The chapter argues that the basic principles of responsibility and, in particular, the principle of attribution are still structured around the concept of the state and cannot address international organisations. With Responsibility existing to provide redress for breaches of the law and international organisations only growing in power and number, the inability of the legal framework to address these actors is a concerning limitation of the international system