Subjects and actors in the architecture of contemporary public international law

Abstract

This article examines the reconfiguration of subjects and actors within contemporary Public International Law, challenging the rigid statist framework inherited from Westphalia. The central problem revolves around the inability of the classical paradigm to assimilate the diversification of global legal capacity, a phenomenon brought about by the emergence of individuals and transnational corporations. Faced with this scenario, the objective was to evaluate the evolution of legal subjectivity toward a multidimensional governance model. To this end, a descriptive and analytical bibliographic-documentary methodology was employed, supported by the dogmatic-legal method and the content analysis of normative, jurisprudential, and doctrinal sources. The findings reflect a fragmented and hierarchical legal order where the State retains its original sovereign status, while international organizations and individuals operate with derived or restricted powers. At the same time, a profound regulatory asymmetry is evident in transnational corporations, which concentrate economic prerogatives without binding counterparts in terms of responsibility, on par with NGOs and actors lacking universal legal personality. The findings confirm the erosion of the state monopoly and advocate a transition toward functional criteria for legal attribution, urging the consolidation of an international human rights law that protects human dignity and ecological stability.