What is the &#39;legislature&#39; in international law?
<p>According to Migdals <em>International Law</em>:</p>
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<p>International law ... has no legislature. Whilst the General Assembly of UN, comprising of delegates from every member country, seems to fit this role, it's rulings are not binding, save for certain organs of the UN, for certain purposes.</p>
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<p>But at the same time, Migdal says that domestic or national law should be distinguished from international law since the main qualities that obtain in national law do not obtain in international law. <em>Their models are different</em>. But then this poses a problem as to what to call the General Assemby at the UN. It's more than just an assembly of people, they are after representatives of the sovereignties of nations. And whilst their rulings are not binding they do have moral gravity. That the international community regards such an assembly as having worth can be seen in fact that preceding the UN, there was the League of Nations and which can now, in hindsight, be viewed as a preliminary step towards the UN.</p>
<p><strong>Q. Has anyone discussed, theoretically speaking, that is philosophically speaking, what the General Assembly, ought to be called - if not a legislature?</strong></p>

<p>The UN General assembly is pretty clearly not a &quot;legislature&quot;. That word means a body empowered to make binding laws, which neither the UN as a whole nor the GA is. I have seen the UN as a whole called an &quot;international organization&quot; and an &quot;inter-governmental organization&quot;. I have not seen any discussion of the proper term for the GA specifically.</p>

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<p>But then this poses a problem as to what to call the General Assemby at the UN</p>
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<p>It's usually called the General Assembly or the GA.  It's unique, so it doesn't necessarily need to be categorized.  In analogy with corporate governance, it would be analogous to a corporation's shareholders.  This analogy is somewhat closer than any with a legislature, since, as noted elsewhere, acts of the GA are not laws.</p>

legal-terms