Abstract
At a time when the framers of the United Nations Charter were somewhat wary of regional bodies and the threats they could pose to the advent of a new, fully universal international law, the statute of the United Nations International Law Commission, which since 1947 has been responsible for the progressive development and codification of international law, accords a significant place to regionalism. In twoways : firstly, in the composition of the Commission (which, according to its statute, must ensure " representation of the main forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems of the world " (article 8)) ; and, secondly, in terms of its working methods, since the Commission is in particular invited to consult any organization whose work would be useful to its own, it being specified that " theusefulness of consultations between the Commission and intergovernmental bodies, such as those of the Pan-American Union, whose task is the codification of international law, is recognized " (article 26 of the statute). Since its creation, the Commission has regularly consulted and cooperated with such regional bodies. Moreover, the very substance of its work bears witness to an increasingly marked attention to regional rights and their possible specificities. This paper will attempt to assess the place that regional rights (and, more broadly, regionalism) now occupy in the work of the United Nations International Law Commission. Such an assessment will, in turn, contribute to reflection on the relationships that are being forged - or unravelled - in the contemporary world between general international law and regional rights.
