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Abstract

The paper addresses the legitimacy crisis of the OSCE, by going beyond the well-rehearsed political debates between the participating States as to the OSCE’s institutional form, functions and structure, and by situating it instead in a broader context of global governance. For that purpose, the concept of autonomy is introduced as one of essential elements of legal personality of international organizations, but still broader in scope in that it can be identified also with organizations lacking legal personality. Since autonomy of an organization gives rise to certain legitimate expectations as to its purpose, functioning and outcomes, some of the legitimacy standards typically appertaining to the organizations with legal personality become relevant also with respect to other international organizations, including the OSCE. On that basis, the contribution sketches out some of the legitimacy standards that call for a reform of informal organisations such as the OSCE. This rising normative framework thereby applies to organizations not because they might possess international legal personality or are established by a constitutive treaty, but because they have the capacity to autonomously exercise public power over individuals and peoples at large.