ADMINISTRATIVE UNIONS. - This term comprises those unions of States established for specific purposes of international cooperation, which are governed by union treaties. These treaties define the aims of cooperation that induce the contracting States to establish “unions” or institutions (unionist States) with a permanent character, as well as the means to achieve them, thereby giving rise to organs intended to produce effects within the domestic legal systems of the unionist States.
The union is thus international in that it is established on the basis of an international agreement; however, the norms of such an agreement do not concern the external activity of the States but rather their internal activity, with a view to coordinating, harmonizing, or even unifying their domestic legal systems to achieve the purposes for which the union was established. The organs of the union are therefore organs of cooperation common to the various unionist States, but their activity is not assessable in terms of international legal systems, and thus they lack “international legal personality.” Nonetheless, attempts have not been lacking in doctrine or practice to recognize at least certain unions (e.g., the BIT = International Labour Office) or certain union organs as possessing international legal personality (e.g., the Danube Commission).
A typical case of administrative unions is the postal union: one of the oldest and most universal. The purpose that States sought to achieve by establishing the union was to attain an internal unification of postal systems (without interfering with the administrative organization of services, which remains governed by national laws) in order to make postal services easier, faster, and more efficient through the uniformity of regulation, as postal services are considered one of the fundamental services of economic and social order. The bureau in Berna is a common organ of the unionist States, with functions of coordination, information, and promotion for the improvement of agreements, etc. What is regulated is the postal service, which, even when international, has a national origin. Indeed, it is national in origin, even if the mail is destined for another State upon arrival.
The establishment and constitution of unions or institutions, their purposes, functioning, and legal regulation are governed by international agreements, which, while varying according to the particular needs and functions assigned to the union organs, essentially follow a uniform system according to a “type” that reflects the needs of the time.
In the second half of the last century, many fundamental unions were created according to the single conception that it was convenient for the organ of the union (the bureau) to be located in a central and neutral European country, which led to Switzerland being predominantly chosen, and the Swiss government was entrusted with overseeing the bureau, which operated under Swiss law. Thus were established in Berna the International Bureau for Literary and Artistic Property and that for Industrial Property, as well as those for postal services, telegraphs (later telecommunications), railways, etc. Other unions were established in other countries according to analogous principles, particularly in Paris.
When the League of Nations (v.) was founded, there were some tendencies to bring existing unions—already numerous—into the framework of the League, but in the end these unions were respected, also in deference to the merits of the countries that had hosted them. Numerous new ones were created, assuming the name of institutes or organizations, and were modeled on a single and uniform type. These were dissolved with the League of Nations (1 January 1947), UNO (v.) has revived and multiplied them, with a very pronounced tendency to absorb previous initiatives, establishing and constituting new ones according to a substantially uniform system and the following fundamental principles: 1) membership is automatic for all States members of the UNO, but non-member States may also join through the process of adhesion (which becomes admission for States formerly hostile to the United Nations); 2) relations between organizations and member States are governed by the norms of a statute adopted by convention; 3) the organizations enjoy broad autonomy, with only limited interference from the UNO; 4) relations between the UNO and the organizations are governed by specific conventions; 5) each organization has its own seat (in Europe or America at present), its own organs, its own legal systems, and its own resources (assembly, executive body, secretariat). The tendency to confer international legal personality on the organizations is becoming ever more pronounced, despite doctrinal and political dissent.
On the basis of these principles, the following have been established: the International Labour Organization (v.), abbreviated ILO; the Food and Agriculture Organization, abbreviated FAO (v. ORGANIZZAZIONE INTERNAZIONALE PER L'AGRICOLTURA); the World Health Organization (WHO); the Organization for Relief and Reconstruction (UNRRA); the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); the Organization for Education, Science, and Culture (UNESCO [v.]); etc. They continue to multiply, and almost all possible forms of international cooperation have been added.
From a formal standpoint, the organization of unions is governed, especially for those within the framework of the League of Nations or the UNO, by special agreements (autonomous union pacts) or by agreements that regulate specific services or matters (literary and artistic property, industrial property, railways, etc.) and also address the union office.
Attempts have been made several times to classify unions, but such classifications always prove approximate and futile. It can be said that there is no possibility of cooperation among peoples in the scientific, technical, cultural, educational, economic, agricultural, communications, transportation, etc., fields that has not given rise to the formation of unions. The more cooperation among peoples develops and takes root, the more the need is felt to invigorate cooperation by regulating it and subjecting it to the oversight of coordinating and promoting organs, with a tendency to assign them functions of initiative and essential activity.