Nongovernmental Organizations: New Actors In The International Society

In the decades after the end of Second World War, Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) have undergone a process of rapid development. They play an increasingly important role in the international governance, and have become new actors in the international society.Part I discusses the definition of NGOs and analyze their legal characteristic or criterion as follows: independence from governments, non profit-oriented, altruistic, be oriented toward the rule of law, and not acting as political parties. Thereafter this article introduces the common structure of NGOs and their classification.Part II provides a short overview of the history and evolution of NGOs as actors in the international realm, and describes the different functions of these non-State actors in the international decision-making process, their monitoring of State compliance with international law, their participation in the international judicial proceedings, and theirrole in the creation of independent legal orders, such as in the area of international sports law, etc. Furthermore this article evaluates the reasons for the growing participation of NGOs in the contemporary international system.Part III discusses the issue of the legal status of NGOs under international law. The character of the international system requires the legal integration of NGOs into international law. After reviewing the relevant international conventions and agreements, this article finds that international law has entitled rights to and imposed obligations on NGOs. Therefore they have the legal status as partial subject of international law. However, the entitlement is very limited, and NGOs' activities actually exceed that scope. Then comes the issue of the internal and external accountability of NGOs. To solve this problem, international society should work together to draft new conventions to rule the activities of NGOs.The last part of this article introduces the relationship between China and the international activities of NGOs, and point out the disadvantageous factors for the development of NGOs existing in China legal system.