Konrad G. Bühler

This volume contains the first comprehensive survey of practice relating to cases of State succession and membership in international organizations between 1945 and 2000. The study closes a lacuna of legal research in a field of State succession that has been left aside by the International Law Commission in its codificatory work. The practice examined by the author includes most controversial and topical cases, ranging from i.a. the acquisition of independence of the Philippines and British India, through the unification of the United Arab Republic, Vietnam, Yemen, and Germany, to the dissolution of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. In the concluding chapter basic principles of State succession and membership as well as criteria for a classification of international organizations are identified. After a confrontation of the confusing practice, which is mostly guided by political pragmatism, with the traditional legal theories, the author proposes a new functional approach to State identity with respect to membership in international organizations.

'This important intersection between States and international organizations (IOs) has been sadly neglected in the literature spawned in both arenas. Now there is a comprehensive analysis of this phenomenon available to bridge the period spanning the end of WWII and the end of the twentieth century.' (ASIL Newsletter, January 2002).

As part of a focus of the Max Planck Yearbook on the "Rule of Law", the article sheds light behind the scenes of the recent developments in the field of rule of law at the United Nations, which were ignited by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2004 and spurred by initiatives of several like-minded UN Member States. In particular, the article highlights the background and achievements of the Austrian Rule of Law Initiative, which consisted of (1) a series of seven panel discussions from 2004 to 2008 on the role of the Security Council in strengthening a rules-based international system and a retreat of experts at Alpbach, Austria, in August 2007, (2) the establishment of an Advisory Group, which over the years became the Group of "Friends of the Rule of Law" at the United Nations in New York, and (3) the publication of the Final Report and Recommendations on "The UN Security Council and the Rule of Law", reflecting the outcome of the four years’ panel series.

Mag. Dr. Konrad G. Bühler is Legal Adviser at the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in New York (since 2004). From 1999 until 2004 he served as legal expert in the Office of the Legal Adviser and the Office of the Special Envoy for Restitution Issues in the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Vienna. Before joining the Foreign Ministry, Dr. Bühler worked as lecturer on public international law and Assistant to Professor Karl Zemanek at the Institute of International Law and International Relations at the University of Vienna (1994 until 1998).