1 Among the variety of definitions on intergovernmental organisations, Volgy et al. suggested the definition that ‘intergovernmental  organisations  are  entities  created  with  sufficient  organizational  structure  and  autonomy  to provide  formal  ongoing,  multilateral  processes  of  decision  making  between  states,  along  with  the  capacity  to execute  collective  will  of  their  members.’  See  T.  J. Volgy  et  al.,  ‘Identifying  Formal  Intergovernmental Organizations’, Journal of Peace Research, vol. 45, no. 6, 2008, pp. 837-850.

2 The term ‘general-purpose organization’ was used in several other writings. For instance, see generally L. Hooghe and G. Marks, ‘Delegation and Pooling in International Governmental Organizations’, The Review of International Organizations, vol. 10, no. 3, 2014, pp 305-328; G. Goertz and K. Powers, ‘Regional Governance: The Evolution of a New Institutional Form’, Workshop on an International Organization Database, Wissenschaft szentrum für Sozialforschung, Berlin, 2014.

3 K. J. Alter and L. Hooghe, ‘Regional Dispute Settlement Systems’ in T. A.Borzel and T. Risse (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2016, p. 542.

4 J.  Klabbers,  ‘Unity,  Diversity,  Accountability:  The  Ambivalent  Concept  of  International  Organisation’, Melbourne Journal of International Law, vol. 14, 2013, p. 3.

5 United Nations,Charter of the United Nations, 24 October 1945,1 UNTS XVI.

6 See A. McBeth, J. Nolan and S. Rice, The International Law of Human Rights, Australia and New Zealand, Oxford University Press, 2011, p.11.

7 United Nations,Article 2, para 3.

8 United Nations, Article 33 (1).

9 United Nations, Article 52 (2).

10 See General Assembly, Resolution No. 2627, “Declaration on the occasion of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the     United     Nations”     of     24     October     1970,     [website],     2017, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/348/92/PDF/NR034892.pdf?OpenElement,(accessed 18 April 2017).

11 See General Assembly, Resolution No. 2734, “Declaration on the Strengthening of International Security” of 16 December 1970, [website], 2017, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/349/99/IMG/NR034999.pdf?OpenElement, (accessed 18 April 2017).

12 M. Evans and P. Koutrakos, Beyond the established legal orders : policy interconnections between the EU and the rest of the world, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2011. p. 235.

13 P. Fisher, ‘International Organizations’, Vienna; Bratislava, 2012,http://www.worldmediation.org/education/io-1.pdf, (accessed 01 April 2017). p. 25.

14 See  generally  The  Council  of  Europe,  Statute  of  the  Council  of  Europe,  ETS  No.001,  1949,  [website], http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/001, 2017, (accessed 27 April 2017).

15 The Council of Europe, European Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, 1957, [website], 2017, https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680064586(accessed 21 April 2017).

16 United Nations, Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes between States. New York, United Nations Publication, 1992, p.86.

17 J. G. Merrills, International Dispute Settlement. 5th ed. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011, p.258.

18 The     European     Union, Treaty     of     the     European     Union, EUR-Lex, [website] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12012M%2FTXT, (Accessed 10 April 2017).

19 The European Union, Article 21 para 1.20The European Union, Article 21 para 2 (c).

21 See generally MERCOSUR, Protocolo De Olivos: Para la Solucion De Controversias En El MERCOSUR, 2002 [website],  2017, http://www.mercosur.int/innovaportal/file/722/1/2002_protocoloolivossolucontroversias_es.pdf(accessed 17 April 2017).

22 See  generally  Southern  African  Development  Community  (SADC), Protocol  on  Tribunal  in  the Southern African Development Community, 2000, [website], http://www.sadc.int/files/1413/5292/8369/Protocol_on_the_Tribunal_and_Rules_thereof2000.pdf,  (accessed  17 April 2017).

23 See  generally  Caribbean  Community  (CARICOM), Protocol  IX:  Dispute  Settlement,  2000,  [website], http://archive.caricom.org/jsp/secretariat/legal_instruments/protocolix.jsp?menu=secretariat&prnf=1,   (accessed 17 April 2017).

24 See generally Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Protocol on the Communtiy Court of Justice, [website], 1991, http://www.courtecowas.org/site2012/pdf_files/protocol.pdf(accessed 17 April 2017).

25 See generally Central American Integration System (SICA), Convention for the Establishment of a Central American Court of Justice, 1908, [website], http://www.worldcourts.com/cacj/eng/documents/1907.12.20_convention.htm, (accessed 17 April 2017).

26 See generally East African Community (EAC), Annex on the Tripartite Dispute Settlement Mechanism, 2010, [website], http://www.tralac.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/12/files/2011/uploads/Tripartite_FTA_Annex_13_dispute_settlement_Revised_Dec_2010.pdf, (accessed 17 April 2017).

27 See generally Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Protocol on Enhanced Dispute Settlement Mechanism,   2010,   [website], http://asean.org/?static_post=asean-protocol-on-enhanced-dispute-settlement-mechanism,(accessed 17 April 2017).

28 J. Tallberg and J. McCall Smith, ‘Dispute settlement in world politics: States, supranational prosecutors, and compliance’, European Journal of International Relations, vol. 20, no. 1, 2014, p. 121.

29 See generally K. J. Alter and L. Hooghe, ‘Regional Dispute Settlement Systems’ in T. A.Borzel and T. Risse (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2016.

30 B. Zangl et al., ‘Between law and politics: Explaining international dispute settlement behavior’, European Journal of International Relations, vol.18, no. 2, 2012, p.370.

31 The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), 2017, [website], http://www.comesa.int/, (accessed 25 April 2017).

32 Southern African Development Community (SADC), 2017, [website], http://www.sadc.int/, (accessed 25 April 2017).

33 East African Community (EAC), 2017, [website], http://www.eac.int/(accessed 25 April 2017).

34 B. Zangl et al., ‘Between law and politics: Explaining international dispute settlement behavior’, p.370.

35 M. Al-Qahtani, ‘The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Law of International Organizations’, Chinese Journal of International Law, vol. 5, no. 1, 2006, p. 130.

36 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Declaration on Establishment of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, [website] 2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/193054/, (accessed 11 April 2017).

37 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, The Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, [website] 2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/203013/, (accessed 10 April 2017).

38 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Permanent Representatives to the SCO Secretariat, [website] 2024, https://eng.sectsco.org/20220907/911976.html, (accessed 21 October 2024).

39 TASS, Belarus officialy joins SCO as 10thmember, https://tass.com/world/1812205,  (accessed  21  October 2024).

40 See Introduction for the common characteristics of the IGO.

41 Z. Kembayev, ‘Towards a Silk Road Union?’, Chinese Journal of International Law, vol. 15, no. 3, 2016, pp. 691-699.

42 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, The Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, [website] 2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/203013/, (accessed 10 April 2017) Article 15.

43 See Introduction for the characteristics described by Alter and Hooghe.

44 See generally The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, The Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, [website] 2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/203013/, (accessed 10 April 2017) Article 1.

45 Russia and China are the permanent members of the UN Security Council. See United Nations,Charter of the United Nations, 24 October 1945,1 UNTS XVI, Article 23.

46 Kazakhstan was appointed as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2016. See United Nations News Centre, Sweden, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan elected to Security Council, [website], 28 June 2016, https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54350#.WQFs-YiGPDc(accessed 14 April 2017).

47 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Declaration on Establishment of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, [website] 2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/193054/, (accessed 11 April 2017). Para. 2.

48 General Assembly Resolution, A/RES/59/48, 2004. [website], http://repository.un.org/bitstream/handle/11176/251299/A_RES_59_48-EN.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y, (accessed 18 April 2017)

49 M. Al-Qahtani, ‘The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Law of International Organizations’, Chinese Journal of International Law, vol. 5, no. 1, 2006, p. 144.

50 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, The Tashkent Declaration of the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, [website], 2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/207886/, (accessed 14 April 2017).

51 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, The Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Article 2.

52 See The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, The Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, [website] 2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/203013/, (accessed 10 April 2017).

53 In the text of the Tashkent Declaration, it reads: “Member States intend to continue to adhere to universally recognized objectives and principles of the UN Charter and international law, primarily relating to the maintenance of  international  peace  and  security,  development  of  cooperation  between  states,  independence,  equality, independent  choice  of  social  systems  and  paths  of  development,  mutual  respect  for  sovereignty,  territorial integrity,  inviolability  of  borders,  non-aggression,  non-interference  in  internal  affairs,  peaceful  settlement  of disputes,  non-use  of  force  or  threat  of  force.”  See  the  Shanghai  Cooperation  Organisation, The  Tashkent Declaration  of  the  Fifteenth  Anniversary  of  the  Shanghai  Cooperation  Organization,  [website],  2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/207886/, (accessed 14 April 2017).

54 The Tashkent Declaration of the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, [website], 2017, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/207886/, (accessed 14 April 2017).

55 E.  Azarkan,  ‘The  Interests  of  the  Central  Asian  States  and  the  Shanghai  Cooperation  Organization’, Ege Academic Review, vol. 10, no. 1, 2010, p.396.

56 The  Shanghai  Cooperation  Organization, Agreement between the Governments of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on Creating Favorable Conditions for International Road Transportation, [website], 2014, http://eng.sectsco.org/load/207681/, (accessed 14 April 2017). Article 26.

57 M. Al-Qahtani, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Law of International Organizations, Chinese Journal of International Law, vol. 5, no. 1, 2006, p. 139.

58 Ibid.

59 See footnote 49.

60 Aris, S., ‘A new model of Asian regionalism: does the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation have more potential than ASEAN?’, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, vol. 22, no. 3, 2009. p. 453.

61 See generally N. Yasuda, ‘Law, Legal Culture and regional Integration: Asian Perspectives’, APEC Discussion Paper Series, no. 7, 1996.

62 N. Yasuda, ‘Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in Asia-Pacific Region –APEC DMS and ASEAN DMS’, APEC Discussion Paper Series, no. 13, 1997, p.25.

63 N. Yasuda, ‘Law, Legal Culture and regional Integration: Asian Perspectives’, APEC Discussion Paper Series, No. 7, 1996, p.5.

64 Aris, S., ‘A new model of Asian regionalism: does the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation have more potential than ASEAN?’, p. 464.

65 ASEAN, Protocol   on   the   ASEAN   Dispute   Settlement   Mechanism,    1996,    [website], http://agreement.asean.org/media/download/20140119110714.pdf, (accessed 21 April 2017).

66 ASEAN, Protocol  to  the  ASEAN  Charter  on  Dispute  Settlement  Mechanisms,  2010  [website], http://agreement.asean.org/media/download/20160829075723.pdf, (accessed 21 April 2017).67Ibid. Article 8-12.

68 See generally A. J. K. Bailes, P. Dunay, P. Guang and M. Troitsky, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 2007.

69 R. Burchill, ‘Regional organizations and the UN legal order’, in International Organizations and the Idea of Autonomy, Taylor and Francis, 2011, p. 332.