The World Bank’s Impact on International Law a Case-Study in the International Law of Cooperation

Abstract

By his concern with and emphasis on an emerging “international law of cooperation” Wolfgang Friedmann greatly contributed to our perception and understanding of the current state of the international legal process.¹ In contrast to the traditional “international law of coexistence,” which he saw as consisting mainly of rules of abstention concerned with the delimitation of national sovereignty, the law of cooperation is “concerned with the organization and implementation of joint endeavors on a binational, regional, or multinational level directed to human welfare.” This law has an affirmative thrust; it deals with substantive, rather than jurisdictional, issues, thus reaching deep into the internal life of nations. Its consequent sensitivity to differences in “political, economic and social structure and principles,” makes it depend for its existence and operation on the perception of common interests by the parties involved. As a result, it has grown mainly on a regional basis; on the universal or quasi-universal level, it is found chiefly in two types of areas: first, technically oriented fields, where the advantages from cooperation are immediate and easily perceivable (e.g., communications and transport); second, areas immediately affecting human welfare, in particular those relating to assistance for the development of less developed countries.

ArticleNote

This essay is based in part on research conducted in connection with a project on the impact of international organizations on the legal system of member states, jointly sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the International Legal Center. Wolfgang Friedmann was senior adviser to the project and had seen early drafts of some of the studies. A companion paper, entitled “The World Bank: A Study of the Institution’s Impact on Its Borrowers,” [hereinafter cited as “World Bank Study”], will appear in the volume collecting the project’s findings. A few sections in the present essay (namely, those on the legal character of loan agreements and on the World Bank’s role in aid coordination and development guidance) summarize discussions in that paper.