Office Overview | IOID
Office of Legal Affairs

Office Overview

Mandate and contact.

Office of Legal Affairs

The Office of Legal Affairs of the International Organization for Identity Documents (INTOID / OIDI / IOID) serves as the principal legal organ of the General Secretariat. It is responsible for the legal integrity of the Organization's instruments, the administration of the Internal Court of Arbitration Registry, the management of treaty affairs, and the provision of authoritative legal guidance to all organs and bodies of the Organization.

Mandate

The Office of Legal Affairs exercises, on behalf of the General Secretariat, the following principal functions:

  • Drafting, reviewing, and certifying all instruments of the Organization prior to promulgation, in accordance with Article 39A of the Charter;
  • Administering the Legal Affairs Registry, which forms a component registry of the Public Information Registry;
  • Serving as Depositary for conventions opened by the General Secretariat under Article 61 of the Charter, and maintaining the register of signatures, ratifications, and accessions;
  • Providing legal opinions and advisory notes to the General Secretariat, the General Council, the Technical Committees, and other organs of the Organization;
  • Administering the procedures of the Internal Court of Arbitration, in coordination with the Registrar of the Court;
  • Overseeing the Organization's intellectual property portfolio in coordination with the General Secretariat;
  • Managing the Organization's privileges and immunities framework and liaising with national authorities on matters arising under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Organization and its Officials.

Services

The Office provides the following services to Contracting Parties, officials, experts, and the public:

Legal guidance: Written legal guidance on the interpretation and application of the Charter, conventions, statutes, and regulations of the Organization. Requests should be addressed to the Office in accordance with the procedure set out under Public Procedures.

Treaty affairs: Information on the status of signatures, ratifications, and accessions to all conventions of the Organization. Current treaty status records are maintained in the Legal Affairs Registry.

ICA filing: Information on filing applications before the Internal Court of Arbitration. Filing requirements and procedures are set out under Internal Court of Arbitration and Public Procedures.

Intellectual property: Licensing requests, permissions, and queries concerning the use of OIDI materials. Procedures are set out under Intellectual Property.

Privileges and immunities: Information for Contracting Parties, officials, and experts on mission regarding the application of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Organization and its Officials.

Formal Contact

All formal communications to the Office of Legal Affairs shall be addressed in writing to the Secretary-General of the International Organization for Identity Documents, for the attention of the Office of Legal Affairs.

Correspondence may be submitted by post to the seat of the Organization, or electronically through the official contact channels published on this website.

Requests for legal guidance, ICA filing, licensing, and other formal matters are subject to the procedures set out under Public Procedures.

The Office of Legal Affairs operates under the authority of the General Secretariat of the International Organization for Identity Documents, in accordance with the Charter and the instruments adopted thereunder.