International organizations are unusual creations: generated by and for their member states, at the same time they often have to compete with those very states that created them. This complicated relationship often leads to some uncertainty in the law relating to international organizations: the legal argument of an organization will often be counterpointed by an equally valid argument from a member state. Professor Jan Klabbers is mindful of this complex relationship in his comprehensive analysis of international institutional law. As well as describing the law as it applies to legal institutions in chapters that include dispute settlement, financing and treaty-making, Klabbers looks forward to a re-appraisal of the status of international organizations. This is a key textbook for advanced-level students of law and of international relations.

‘This book contains all you ever wanted to know about international institutional law and was perhaps not afraid to ask about, but that you could not find clear, concise, updated and well thought through answers to. Now you have this book. In addition it is remarkably well written. The dry prose of international institutional law is given a witty twist … Who ever thought international institutional law could be funny? … I can immediately see the pedagogic value of the book as well; it brings up all the issues you want to teach in a course on the law of international organizations in a logical and comprehensible manner without simplifying unnecessarily.’

Source: Tidskrift utgiven av Juridiska Föreningen I Finland

‘The book is thought-provoking in style and … challenges the reader to engage in the arguments made … For anyone interested … in the … general question on what institutional law is … about, or a more substantive topic concerning the functioning of organizations, the book will certainly serve as a source of inspiration.’

Source: Finnish Yearbook of International Law 2003

'The book is written for a course on the law of IOs and it easily meets the needs for it. It is written clearly, it reads nicely and it is up to date.'

Source: Legal Issues of Economic Integration