Book Review: Human Rights Accountability of the World Bank and IMF: Possibilities and Limits of Legal Analysis
| Published date | 01 March 2003 |
| Date | 01 March 2003 |
| DOI | 10.1177/096466390301200108 |
| Author | Mac Darrow |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
REVIEW ARTICLE
HUMAN RIGHTS
ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE
WORLD BANK AND IMF:
POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITS OF
LEGAL ANALYSIS
MAC DARROW
SIGRUN I. SKOGLY, The Human Rights Obligations of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund. London: Cavendish, 2001, 227 pp., £71.50.
Calls for accountability of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
(IMF or Fund, or together with the Bank, ‘International Financial Insti-
tutions’ or IFIs) have intensified in recent years. This book examines the
sources and putative content of obligations incumbent upon the Bank and
Fund under international human rights law. The author’s stated objective is
to ‘fill a void in the literature on obligations according to international human
rights law’.
There can be no doubt that this is a timely and important book embody-
ing an impressive degree of research into the law of international organiz-
ations bearing on the question of international legal responsibility. At the
heart of the author’s analysis is an extensive inquiry into the international
legal personality of the Bank and Fund, and the legal consequences flowing
from their status as subjects of international law. Drawing upon well-
established authorities as to the sources of international law, a serious and
systematic attempt is made to identify and classify the nature and content of
human rights obligations applicable to them.
Consistent with the opinion of most scholars in this field, the author argues
that the Bank and Fund are under a baseline obligation to ‘respect’ human
rights as expressed through the UN Charter, and through customary
SOCIAL &LEGAL STUDIES 0964 6639 (200303) 12:1 Copyright © 2003
SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi,
www.sagepublications.com
Vol. 12(1), 133–144; 030849
40P 08 Darrow (JS/D) 20/1/03 11:04 am Page 133
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