The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its General Counsel: An evolving role in an evolving organization

This chapter offers insight into the evolving roles of the General Counsel (GC) and the Directorate for Legal Affairs (DLA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Their development has generally followed the evolution of the Organisation. To illustrate this, the chapter outlines the OECD’s history and mandate, its governance structure, and some of the current challenges and opportunities it faces: not least the future enlargement of the OECD, which brings both opportunities and challenges; the rising trend and threat of political anti-multilateralism; and the adaptability and flexibility of the OECD. The chapter also elucidates the OECD’s status as global standard-setter: pointing to its influences on the ‘corporate social responsibility’ and ‘polluter pays’ concepts, the tax sector, anti-corruption activities, and public and private governance norms. Following this, the Organisation’s legal and institutional framework is considered; as is the work of the DLA, including its institutional role, traditional functions, and its new bi-divisional structure; and the DC’s specific roles as adviser, negotiator, and litigator.