Cities as Subjects of International Law?

Witnessing the sometimes confusing and often nebulous debate on the position of cities in international law, one could wonder what cities are and what they do in contemporary international law. One could also wonder whether allowing cities to actively participate in the formation and implementation of international norms, and contribute to international multilateral negotiations on issues of global concern such as sustainable development, climate change or human rights does really imply a change in their status in international law. In this contribution, the reasons why cities are not subjects of international law, or better, why cities and local authorities still matter in international law only because they are part of a State, are synthetically assessed and attention is paid to the issue of transnational cities networks. Before concluding, this article makes some final comments on the prospects for cities and transnational cities networks in international law.