The International Law Commission, the Institut, and States

Abstract

Unlike the International Law Association (ILA) and the Institut de Droit International (the Institut), the International Law Commission (the Commission, or ILC) is not 150 years old. Established in 1948, the Commission is exactly half the age of the two codification bodies to which this Symposium is dedicated and is celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2023.1 Like its older cousins, the Commission is charged with the codification and progressive development of international law. Among the many differences between the Commission and its older cousins, one that stands out and that provides the lens for this essay, is its close relationship to states. Although a comparison of both the ILA and the Institut with the younger, but apparently more “authoritative” body, the Commission, is worthwhile,2 due to space limitations, I focus my comments on the Institut and the Commission. This essay will home in on the impact of the relationship of these two bodies with states and argues that this relationship affects, to some extent, the work of the relevant bodies, both in terms of what topics they may address and how they address them. This broad conclusion, which is necessarily limited by space considerations, is substantiated on the basis of the membership and outputs of the two bodies.