Abstract
In the current understanding, NGOs are not considered as legal persons under international law, eventhough their factual relevance and impact on international community is steadily growing. The starting hypothesis of this contribution is therefore whether international law reflects this developments, in other words, how significant challenge do NGOs constitute for the current international law as the normative framework for functioning of the international community.
In order to answer this question, this contribution first outlines basic theoretical issues concerning the legal status of NGOs, whereas in the second part contains empirical analysis of three areas, in which NGOs are currently heavily involved: cooperation with intergovernmental organizations, international human rights protection, and the area of protection of persons in the event of disasters (in the context of the ILC's codification work on this topic).