The World Bank and Legal Studies

This chapter focuses on the role of law and legal studies for the World Bank. After introducing the theme, the chapter distinguishes between the legal relationships that take place at the organization-internal and at the international plane. Based on this framework, the chapter moves on to consider the contradictions between considering the law as a technical instrument separate from politics and its use to achieve political aims. I first focus on the issue of competences, and, in particular, on how legal arguments justified their progressive expansion. Finally, the issue of accountability is tackled by distinguishing between the limits faced before domestic courts due to the immunities of the organization; the limits faced under international law for the lack of binding norms and courts; and the attempts to provide a limited form of internal accountability with the creation of the World Bank Inspection Panel.