Lack of legal provision for international nongovernmental organizations

The lack of a legal basis for the internationalism of non-governmental organizations is a three fold problem. In the first place intergovernmental organizations themselves have no power to recognize or create a legal status that would accord INGOs quasi-autonomy apart from sovereign states. In the second place INGOs do not possess a sovereign or quasi-sovereign power according to the classical tenets of international law. Thirdly, any notion that an INGO is the official one, whether supported by one or more states, immediately imparts a governmental character to it. On a world-wide level, a universal legal status for INGOs is not attainable or desirable. There is no obstacle, however, to bilateral and multilateral treaties and agreements that accord rights and responsibilities to INGOs, such as those involving the International Red Cross.