INGOs are recognized as active actors in modern international society to secure democratic government by governance. In the history of international law, INGOs have engaged in the declaration of international concerns, established common values, and exerted important and direct influence on the process of making international law. INGOs, however, still doesn't have authoritative position in determination of international issues as well as international legal system. Moreover, there is no criteria in international law to decide which INGO has international legal personality. Theoretically, international legal personality means the capacity to bear rights and obligations under international law. It is the easiest way of ascertaining whether an entity has or does have international personality, where such legal personality has not, expressly or implicitly, been granted by a rule of law, or vis-a-vis the parties concerned, to find out as did the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion on Reparation for Injuries Case(1949).
This article aims to review the reception and legal status of INGOs in international law. The function of INGOs are getting stronger, and the role of INGOs are becoming expanded though the dissemination of globalization, the demand of democratic governance, and the development of IT technology. The question is that the reform of international legal system could lead INGOs to be recognized as an international legal personality. To examine the possibility, the Rainbow Warrior Case(1985) between the New Zealand and France is analyzed in this article.