Interdependency and the need to cooperate between states will continue to give increasing responsibilities to intergovernmental organizations that seek to benefit their membership by the management of international or regional problems of whatever kind. Simultaneous to this development, jurisdiction of international organization as a branch of public international law will require further research. As the scope of activities of international organizations will expand, the development of the law of international organizations must focus on the delicate balance of jurisdictions of organizations and their member states. The latter may be willing to subject themselves to the jurisdiction of an international organization but it is also their legitimate interest that the organization observes its purposes and powers. Constitutional interpretation and dispute settlement should safeguard such interests.

This article analyses Article 290:1 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), concerning the elements required for the prescription of provisional measures, in the context of the Order of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) of 11 March 1998 which prescribes provisional measures in The M/V ‘Saiga’ (No. 2) (St Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea) Article 290:1 provides:

If a dispute has been duly submitted to a court or tribunal which considers that prima facie it has jurisdiction under this Part or Part XI, section 5, the court or tribunal may prescribe any provisional measures which it considers appropriate under the circumstances to preserve the respective rights of the parties to the dispute or to prevent serious harm to the environment, pending the final decision.

If the trading system of the 21st century is to succeed in ‘raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily growing volume of real income and effective demand, and expanding the production and trade in goods and services … in accordance with the objective of sustainable development’, it must be equipped to achieve these goals.