What are the historical organisations that started implementing the rules-based international system?
Political scientists like Prof. Hedley Bull see anarchy as the dominant characteristic of international relations, as no one global institution can exercise decision-making across the global "system" of sovereign states. However, throughout history there have been many international organisations that have shaped the generally accepted rules that exist today.
Let’s examine international organisations preceding the formation of the League of Nations in 1920.
The Congress of Vienna in 1815
• In the 19th century, various nations realised that state sovereignty was a block to international cooperation. It wasn’t until this conference that a vision of cooperative behaviour through diplomacy emerged. With the absence of a global legislative body, nations placed trust in the diplomatic process and multiple bureaucracies and secretariats emerged.
1850: Growing Technical and Administrative Regulations
• As technology advanced, so did the need for more sophisticated management. International regulation developed across sectors including: international lakes and rivers, railways, agriculture, health, weights and measures, patents and copyright, tariffs, telegraphy and postal communications. As many of these new technologies crossed international borders, cooperation was necessary to effectively manage and support them.
The 20th Century and the growth of Secretariats serving most sectors of World Society
• Since the 1960s non-governmental institutions have mushroomed. This has led to the need to look for solutions in "governance", rather than "government", particularly through alliances.
Shipping Regulations in the 18th-19th Century — How did International Law develop specifically in the Shipping Sector?
Approaching global shipping law is a complex problem. B. J. Abrahamsson remarked in 1980, "it must adapt continuously to the ever-changing dynamics of international trade."
• Until the mid-1800s, the purpose of the International Law of the Sea was to facilitate global trade and navigation. From this point, the focus changed to the unification of national shipping laws. This resulted in the initial draft codification of the ancient maritime law principle of "general average" in 1860.
• The International Law Association in 1890 consolidated these laws into The York-Antwerp Rules. L’Institut de Droit International also drafted an international maritime code. Inspired by the vision of Louis Franck, there were attempts to unify both international maritime and commercial law and practice. The Comité Maritime International (CMI) tried to establish uniformity of domestic laws, usages, customs or practices.
• However, in the 19th century, the British Empire dominated international trade and shipping. They drove for the unification of shipping law and the acceptance by other states of British law as the principal maritime law.
Douglas M. Johnston, in The Historical Foundations of World Order, points out that with so many owners and financial stakeholders, marine regulation became incredibly complicated. Even today, the law must cater for thousands of commercial organisations ranging from: large shipping companies and fleets of oil tankers to single-owner vessels.
Johnston also underlines, "Seafaring is still a jumble of widely varying standards. Vessels fall between the extremely professional to the recklessly negligent. Legislating to fill this gap is difficult. Even with the rise of the cruise sector, the industry is geared to the carriage of cargoes rather than people.”
Private maritime law and public maritime law developed along parallel paths:
As Johnston mentions, "Experts in shipping law from both paths worked autonomously. They rarely met to resolve problems in their corresponding fields. This was because it served the interests of the shipping industry." They did, however, agree on some concepts such as the legal principle of the "freedom of the seas", and the institution of 3-mile territorial waters around a seafaring nation.
Shipping Regulations in the 20th Century
• The First World War (1914-1918) - Second World War (1939-1945)
World shipping slumped after the Great War. The CMI attempted to further consolidate the industry and held eight important conferences between 1921 and 1937. These produced four major conventions, including in 1924 one of the foundations in international maritime commerce: the "Hague Rules" (The International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading).
They addressed issues on:
As the focus was on private shipping, the gap with wider marine policy decisions grew wider. By the end of the Second World War, the case for an inter-governmental organisation for marine transportation became an important issue to resolve.
• Post-War
From a public law and policy perspective, the most important institution established in 1958 was the International Maritime Organisation. A special agent of the United Nations, it:
Other bodies established in the post-war years included the Shipping Division of UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development), the Maritime Committee of OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), the ILO (International Labour Organisation), and the IHO (International Hydrographic Organisation).
