ABSTRACT
International organizations are said to enjoy functional immunity, the immunity necessary to ensure their independent functioning. Since the mid-20th century it has been the human rights rationale of providing access to justice to private parties which reinforced the necessity to restrict the jurisdictional immunity of states. The right of access to court may be flexible enough not to require states to provide always and exclusively their own judicial system. The idea of an effective alternative forum requirement was initially developed by national courts in the context of a fundamental rights review of acts of supranational and international organizations. Administrative tribunals of international organizations themselves have recognized the general principle that employees should have access to a form of employment dispute settlement. Instead of looking for alternative dispute settlement mechanisms along the lines expressed in Waite and Kennedy, it had recourse to an interpretation technique trying to avoid inconsistencies between European Convention of Human Rights demands and rules of international law.
