The United
Nations (UN) is an international organization. It is a global association of governments
facilitating cooperation in international law,
international security, economic development, and social progress. It was founded in 1945 by 51 states,
replacing the League of Nations; as of 2006 it consists
of 191 member states. The creation of the United Nations
Organization represents the second major effort (the creation of the League of Nations was the first effort) in the twentieth
century for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security through
a general international organization of states.
How and when
was the United Nations created? What is
its nature? For what purposes was it
created? What are its principles? How is it structured? How can it maintain international peace and
security, its primary purpose? How has it
evolved since its creation?
The answers to
all the above questions are dealt with in the following five chapters.
Chapter one deals with the genesis of the United Nations, its Charter, its purposes and principles, its membership, and its budget.
Chapter two deals with the organizational structure of the United Nations.
Chapter three deals with the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security.
Chapter four deals with the other activities of the United Nations.
Chapter five deals with the evolution of the United Nations since its creation.
Chapter one deals with the genesis of the United Nations, its Charter, its purposes and principles, its membership, and its budget.
Chapter two deals with the organizational structure of the United Nations.
Chapter three deals with the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security.
Chapter four deals with the other activities of the United Nations.
Chapter five deals with the evolution of the United Nations since its creation.
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Chapter One
Introductory Topics
I. Genesis of the United
Nations [2]
The name "United Nations"
was coined by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Second World
War. It was first used in the “Declaration by the United Nations” of
January 1, 1942, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their Governments
to continue fighting together against the Axis powers during the Second World
War. Thereafter, the Allies used the
name "United Nations Fighting Forces" to refer
to their alliance.
The idea to
create an international organization was elaborated in declarations signed at
the wartime allied conferences in Moscow,
Cairo
and Tehran
in 1943. From August to October 1944,
representatives of France,
the Republic of China, the United Kingdom,
the United States,
and the Soviet Union
met to elaborate the plans for the creation of a United Nations organization at
the Dumbarton Oaks Estate in Washington, DC. Those and later talks produced proposals
outlining the purposes of the organization, its membership and organs, and arrangements
to maintain international peace and security and international economic and
social cooperation. These proposals were discussed and debated by governments
and citizens worldwide.
On April 25,
1945, the United Nations
Conference on International Organizations began in San Francisco.[3]
The 50 nations represented at the
conference signed the Charter of the United Nations on 26 June 1945. Poland,
which was not represented at the conference, signed the Charter two month
later. The United Nations Organization
officially came into existence on October 24,
1945, after the Charter
had been ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council, Republic of China,
France,
the Soviet Union,
United Kingdom,
and the United States, and by a
majority of the other 46 signatories.
United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October each year.
II. Nature of the United Nations
To understand the United Nations one
must understand its nature. The ideal of
an international organization such as the United Nations has intrigued
far-seeking thinkers and dreamers for many centuries. The theories and conceptions of these thinkers
and dreamers provided the bases for the international organizations.
Three broad
schools of thought can be suggested for the purpose of understanding the nature
of the United Nations. These three
schools can be called the rationalist, the revolutionist, and the realist.[4]
The
rationalists insist on the need for a new plan for the international relation. They reject the bankrupt practices and
objectives of the old diplomacy. They
argue that the rationale for a political body that has the right to enforce law
and order at the domestic level is the same for a world political body that has
the right to enforce law and order at the international level. That which exists at the domestic level needs
to be created in international society, the society of sovereign states, for
the purpose of transforming that society into a true community of nations where
world-wide peace and order prevail. An
international political body could provide the framework for the realization of
order for the benefit of all mankind.
U.S President
Woodrow Wilson, a rationalist, envisioned the organization as “not a balance of
power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries but an organized
common peace.”[5] To him, organized common peace should be
supported by collective mechanisms for the pacific settlement of disputes and
by general and comprehensive disarmament for the purpose of depriving states of
the means with which to wage war and aggression.
Rationalist
thought is imbued with a sense of purposes: “To save successive generations
from the scourge of war; to secure equal political rights (national
self-determination) and equal economic opportunities (the welfare state); and
to substitute right for might through the institution of the rule of law which
will give protection to the powerless against the powerful.”[6]
Believing in
the historical progress, the rationalists assure that the “United Nations is
moving slowly but surely in the direction of a fully-fledged world authority,
with the acceleration of an ever-widening range of executive responsibilities,
especially in the peace-keeping field, and the assimilation of procedures which
… constitute a form of parliamentary diplomacy”.[7]
Like the rationalists, the revolutionists
insist on the process of historical progress. However, there are important differences
between the two. On one hand, the
rationalists’ goal is “an international millennium, that is, a millennium in
which sovereign states will continue to exist, even though they will coexist
not in a state of near anarchy but in an effectively functioning world
community.”[8]
On the other hand, the revolutionists’
goal is “to rebuild, not merely to repair, the existing world order, the
institutions of which may need to be demolished to clear the site for the
rebuilding. In that rebuilding there may
be little place for traditional notions of sovereignty.”[9]
Finally, the
realists insist on the “real nature of things”.
Their starting point is the observed behaviors of states. Their approach is dominated by the “ubiquity
of the struggle for power, regardless of time and place and political ideology,
or form of government.”[10] Relying on this approach, they believe that
the world’s institutions are caught up in this struggle. They argue that in this international arena
of states struggling for powers, world order is necessary and needed as a
countervailing power. They view world
order as “a function of a balance of power checking and restraining the overweening
ambitions of the powerful.”[11]
For them the task of the world
institution is to “add stability to the balance and to facilitate the
adjustment of shifting power relationships without resort to large-scale or
unlimited war.”[12] The United Nations is viewed as providing “a
convenient point of diplomatic contact, especially in times of crisis, which
may enable statesmen to assess each other’s intentions more accurately and to appreciate
better the risks a particular policy may involve.”[13]
Relying on the
philosophical bases created by these schools of thought, the member states of
the United Nations perceive the nature of this international organization in
different ways. The United Nations is
conceived as “static conference machinery” for resolving conflicts of interests
and ideologies with a view to peaceful coexistence.[14] According to this view, the United Nations is
the forum through which sovereign states despite their rivalries and
competition achieve peaceful coexistence.
In contrast to this view, the United Nations is conceived as “dynamic
instrument of governments” through which the governments, jointly and for
common purposes, seek reconciliation to develop forms of executive action,
undertaken on behalf of all members, aiming at forestalling and resolving
conflicts by appropriate diplomatic or political means.[15]
According to this view, the “dynamic
instrument” concept is but the starting point on the path to increasingly
effective forms of active international cooperation in the future; the road to
this future is open.
To the
International Court of Justice the United Nations is neither a state nor a
super-state.[16] To it the legal nature of the United Nations
is more akin to a confederation of states than it is to a federation.[17]
The concept of
“is” and “ought to be” regarding the United Nations have confused the statesmen
as well as the thinkers. Everyone has
been trying to give his own view.[18] The United Nations is a meeting place for
international discussion. It is a place
where the world statesmen meet each other.
It is merely a group of institutions provided with procedures and powers
for accomplishing objectives. It is an
instrument of cooperation. It is a loose
association for occasional specific joint action, in regard to which each of
its members remain on the whole free to participate or not. It is a club which makes joint action easier
if wanted.
The most
realistic view regarding the nature of the United Nations is the one conceives
the Organization not a world government but an organization of sovereign
states, and not an entity apart from its members but an entity reflects the
world context in which it operates: its diversity, its imperfections, its many
centers of powers and initiatives, its competing values, its worldly compound
of mobility and tragedy.[19]
This view gives a veracious and realistic
picture about the United Nations. The
United Nations is a reflection of the international scene. Its nature should be conceived in regard to
what it “is” in reality rather that what it “ought to be”. Until the time when member states get
together to choose and decide what the United Nations ought to be, the nature
of the United nations remains a subject of confusion. The United Nations remains a loose
association of conflicting states in an international theater, where each state
seeks to further its own interests through every possible means, legal or
illegal, or even through exploiting this Organization for its own selfish
purposes.
From the legal
point of view, the United Nations is a
legal person under International Law (a subject of International Law).[20] The United Nations can perform legal acts
such as entering into agreements with member States and with other
international organizations, concluding contracts and bringing claims before
the Court.
The international legal personality of the
United Nations is derived from the United Nations Charter, the Headquarters
Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America
The United Nations enjoys in the territory
of each of its member states such legal capacity as may be necessary for the
exercise of its functions and the fulfillment of its purposes.[21] It also enjoys such privileges and immunities
as are necessary for the fulfillment of its purposes.[22] Officials of the United Nations (the
Secretary General and the Staff) and representatives of member states similarly
enjoy such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent
exercise of their functions in connection with the Organization.[23]
In
reality, the United Nations has exercised its legal capacity in a great variety
of ways. It has concluded treaties,
created military forces, convened international conferences, and brought claims
against States.
III. Charter of the United Nations
On June 26, 1945, the Charter of the
United Nations was signed at San Francisco (USA). The Charter was a product of the joint
evolutionary efforts and developments of many minds extending back over many
centuries for the goal of establishing a world organization that would do away
with wars and contribute to lasting security and peace on planet earth.[24] The United Nations Organization created by
the Charter represents the second major effort in the twentieth century for the
purpose of maintaining international peace and security through a general
international organization of states.
The United
Nations Charter is the constituting instrument of the Organization,
establishing the United Nations organs and procedures, and setting out the
rights and obligations of Member States.
It is an international treaty, codifying the major principles of
international law, from the sovereign equality of states to the prohibition of
the use of force in international relations to the basic human rights to which
all women and men are entitled.[25]
The Charter
opens with a Preamble, and includes 19 chapters, mainly on: United Nations
purposes and principles; membership; organs; pacific settlement of disputes;
actions with respect to threats to peace, breach of the peace and acts of
aggression; regional arrangement; international economic and social
cooperation; and amendments to the Charter.
The Preamble
of the Charter expresses the ideals and common aims of all the peoples whose
Governments joined together to form the United Nations. It starts with the solemn statement of ends
(purposes or aims) by the peoples of the United Nations. The peoples of the United Nations determined to
save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental
human rights, to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the
obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be
maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in
larger freedom.
The statement
of ends by the peoples of the United Nations is followed by their statement of
means (courses of conduct) to attain these ends. The peoples of the United Nations determined
to practice tolerance and live together with one another as good neighbors, to
unite strength to maintain international peace and security, to ensure that
armed force shall not be used save in the common interest, and to employ
international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social
advancement of all peoples.
The Preamble
ends with the resolution by the peoples of the United Nations to combine their
efforts to accomplish the listed aims, and accordingly have agreed to the
Charter of the United Nations and to establish an international organization to
be known as the United Nations.
IV. Purposes and Principles of the United Nations
The United Nations is
essentially an association of states that, through an international treaty, has
chosen to accomplish specific aims and purposes. These purposes, the common ends, which the
United Nations, a center for harmonizing the actions of nations, has to attain,
are stated in the preamble and Article 1 of its Charter. The purposes of the United Nations are: [26]
1. To maintain international peace and security;
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the
principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples;
3. To cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural and
humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms;
4. To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these
common ends.
The United Nations and its Members, in pursuit of the
Purposes of the United Nations, stated in Article 2 of the Charter the
principles to be followed by the Organization and its Members in pursuit of the
purposes stated in Article 1. The
principles are:[27]
1.
The United Nations is based on the sovereign equality of all its Members.
2.
All Members are to fulfill in good faith their obligations under the
Charter.
3.
All Members are to settle their international disputes by peaceful
means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are
not endangered.
4.
All Members are to refrain in their international relations from the
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the
Purposes of the United Nations.
5.
All Members are to give the United Nations every assistance in any
action it takes in accordance with the Charter, and to refrain from giving
assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive
or enforcement action.
6.
The Organization is to ensure that states which are not Members of the
United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be
necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.
7.
The United Nations and its Members are not to intervene in matters
which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.
It seems that the maintenance of
international peace and security which was the basic reason for the creation of
the United Nations as an international organization represents the primary
purpose of this Organization. The
maintenance of international peace and security is the prerequisite to any
other purposes of the United Nations; without it no friendly relations, no
international cooperation, and no harmonization of nation’s actions could be
achieved. Its location, heading the list
of the United Nations’ purposes, makes it prevailing over the other purposes.
Because of the importance of international
peace and security, the founders of the United Nations insisted upon it and emphasized
it in the Preamble and in the articles of the Charter of the United
Nations. They made it the primary
purpose of the United Nations, and to this end they stated all the possible
principles and courses of conduct which are to be followed to attain it.
V. Membership of the
United Nations
The Charter of the United Nations, after
determining the original members of the United Nation, defines the conditions
and the procedures for the admission of a new member to the United Nations, and
the conditions and procedures for the suspension or expulsion of a member from
the United Nations. The original members
of the United Nations, as determined by the Charter, are the states (51 states)
which participated in the United Nations Conference on International
Organization at San Francisco
A member of the United Nations against
which a preventive or enforcement action has been taken by the Security Council
may be suspended from the exercise of the rights and privileges of membership
by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council; the
exercise of these rights and privileges may be restored by the Security
Council.[31] Moreover, a member which has persistently
violated the principles contained in the Charter may be expelled from the
Organization by a decision of the General Assembly upon a recommendation of the
Security Council.[32] No such action (suspension or expulsion) has
ever been taken.
As of 2006 the United Nations consists
of 191 member states, including virtually all
internationally-recognized independent nations,
except the Vatican City (which has declined membership), Palestine
(whose status is still one of a de facto state, and has not yet legal declared
statehood), Niue
(whose foreign affairs are dealt with by the New Zealand
Government) and the Republic of China (whose membership was
superseded by the People's Republic of China in 1971). Palestine and
the Vatican City
VI. Budget of the
United Nations
The regular
budget of the United Nations (excluding its programmes) is approved by the
General Assembly for a two-year period.
The budget is initially submitted by the Secretary General and reviewed
by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. The main source of the funds for the regular
budget is the contributions of member states, which are assessed on a scale
approved by the Assembly on the recommendation of the Committee on
Contributions.[33] The fundamental criterion on which the scale
of assessments is based is the ability of states to pay. This is determined by considering their relative
shares of total gross national product, adjusted to take into account a number
of factors, including their per capita incomes.
In addition to the regular budget, member
states are also assessed, in accordance with the modified version of the basic
scale, for the costs of the United Nations peacekeeping operations around the
world. With Regard to the United Nations
operational programmes, the bulk of the resources for their finance are
provided on a voluntary basis.
Contributions are provided by governments, and also by individuals.
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Chapter Two
Organizational
Structure of the United Nations
The
Charter of the United Nations established six principal organs of the United
Nations, namely the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and
Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice,
and the Secretariat. The United Nations
family, however, is much larger; it encompasses 15 agencies and several
programmes and bodies.
I. General
Assembly [34]
The General Assembly (G.A) of the United
Nations is the main deliberative organ of the Organization. It is a forum where
states put forward their ideas and debate issues.
A. Composition and Voting
The General Assembly is composed of representatives of
the members of the United Nations; it is made up
of all 191 member states.[35] Each member of the General Assembly has one
vote.[36]
The General Assembly can discuss and make recommendations on any issue covered
by the U.N Charter. The recommendations
are not binding and the Assembly has no authority to enforce them, however, they
carry the weight of world opinion, as well as the moral authority of the world
community.
Decisions of the General Assembly on
important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new
members, election of members to other U.N organs, suspension or expulsion of a
member, and budget, require a two-thirds majority.[37] Decisions on other questions are made by a
majority of the members present and voting.[38]
B. Functions and Powers
Under the Charter, the functions and
powers of the General Assembly include: [39]
1.
To consider and make recommendations on the principles of cooperation
in the maintenance of international peace and security, including the
principles governing disarmament and arms regulation.
2.
To discuss any question relating to international peace and security
and, except where a dispute or situation is being discussed by the Security
Council, to make recommendations on it.
3.
To discuss and, with the same above exception, make recommendations on
any question within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and
functions of any organ of the United Nations.
4.
To initiate studies and make recommendations to promote international
political cooperation, the development and codification of international law,
the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, and international
collaboration in economic, social, cultural, educational and health fields.
5.
To make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation,
regardless of origin, which might impair friendly relations among nations.
6.
To receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other
United Nations organs.
7.
To consider and approve the United Nations budget and to apportion the
contributions among members.
8.
To elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council, the members
of the Economic and Social Council and those members of the Trusteeship Council
that are elected; to elect jointly with the Security Council the Judges of the
International Court of Justice; and, on the recommendation of the Security
Council, to appoint the Secretary-General.
The “Uniting for Peace” Resolution adopted
by the General Assembly in 1950 provides an additional function to the General
Assembly.[40] The General Assembly is granted the power to
act in place of the Security Council if the latter fails to discharge its
primary responsibility in maintaining international peace and security. Under this resolution, the General Assembly
may do by recommendations anything that the Security Council can do by
decisions under Chapter VII. The
Assembly can make appropriate recommendations to members for collective
measures, including the use of armed force, if the Council in any case where
there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of
aggression fails to exercise its responsibility, because of the lack of
unanimity of its permanent members.
The General Assembly meets in regular
annual sessions. Its regular session
usually begins each year on the third Tuesday in September. At the start of each regular session, the
Assembly elects its new President, its 21 Vice-Presidents and the Chairpersons
of the Assembly's six main committees.
To ensure equitable geographical representation, the presidency of the
Assembly rotates each year among five groups of states: African, Asian, Eastern
European, Latin American, and Western European and other states.
In addition to its regular sessions, the
Assembly may meet in special sessions at the request of the Security Council,
of a majority of member states, or of one member if the majority of members
concur. It may meets in emergency
special session under the “Uniting for Peace” Resolution. Emergency special sessions may be called
within 24 hours of a request by the Security Council on the vote of any nine
Council members, or by a majority of the United Nations members, or by one
member if the majority of members concur.
At the beginning of each regular session,
the General Assembly holds a general debate, often addressed by heads of state
and government, in which member states express their views on a wide range of
international matters. Issues are then
discussed by the Assembly. Some issues are considered only in the
Assembly’s plenary meetings, while others are allocated to one of the
Assembly’s six main committees:
-
First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).
-
Second Committee (Economic and Financial).
-
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).
-
Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization).
-
Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).
-
Sixth Committee (Legal).
All issues are voted on through
resolutions passed in plenary meetings, usually towards the end of the regular
session, after the committees have completed their consideration of them and
submitted draft resolutions to the plenary Assembly. Voting in Committees is by a simple
majority. In plenary meetings,
resolutions may be adopted by acclamation, without objection or without a vote,
or the vote may be recorded or taken by roll-call. While the decisions of the Assembly have no
legally binding force for governments, they carry the weight of world opinion,
as well as the moral authority of the world community.
The work of the United Nations year-round
derives largely from the decisions of the General Assembly. That work is carried out:
-
By committees and other bodies established by the Assembly to study and report
on specific issues, such as disarmament, peacekeeping, development and human
rights.
-
In international conferences called for by the Assembly.
-
By the Secretariat of the United Nations, the Secretary General and his staff
of international civil servants.
The Security Council (S.C) of the United Nations is
the most important organ in the Organization.
It has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace
and security.
The Security Council is composed of 15
members: 5 permanent members, namely China, France, the Russian Federation, the
United Kingdom and the United States; and 10 non-permanent members elected by
the General Assembly for two-year terms.[44]
Each member
of the Council has one vote.[45] Decisions of the Council on procedural
matters are made by an affirmative vote of at least 9 of the 15 members.[46] Decisions on all other matters (substantive
matters) are made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the
concurring votes of the five permanent members.[47] This is the rule of “Great Power Unanimity”,
often referred to as the “veto” power.
If a permanent member does not agree with a decision, it can cast a
negative vote, and this act has power of veto.[48] If a permanent does not support a decision
but does not wish to block it through a veto, it may abstain from voting. The Charter
provides an exception to the unanimity requirement on substantive matters. Whenever a member of the United Nations is a
party to a dispute, the continuance of which is likely to endanger the
maintenance of international peace and security, that member shall abstain from
voting on decisions arising under Chapter VI of the Charter (Pacific Settlement
of Disputes). This exception has been
explained on the ground that nobody shall be judge in his own case.
The decisions of the Security Council are
binding on all member states of the United Nations, because under the Charter,
these members agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security
Council.[49] The Security Council alone has the power to
take decisions which member states are obliged under the Charter to carry out,
while other organs of the United Nations make recommendations which have no
binding force on member states of the United Nations.
B. Functions and Powers
Under the
Charter of the United Nations, the functions and powers of the Security Council
are:[50]
1. To maintain international peace and security
in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations. In this respect it can:
(a) investigate any dispute, or
situation which may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute.
(b) recommend methods of adjusting
any dispute or terms of settlement.
(c) determine the existence of a
threat to the peace or act of aggression and to
recommend what action should be taken.
(d) call on members to apply economic
sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop
aggression.
(e) take military action against an
aggressor.
2. To formulate plans for
the establishment of a system to regulate armaments.
3. To recommend the admission of new Members.
4. To exercise the trusteeship functions of the
United Nations in "strategic areas".
5. To recommend to the General Assembly
the appointment of the Secretary General and, together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges
of the International Court of Justice.
6. To recommend to the General Assembly the
suspension or expulsion of a member state from the United Nations.
C. Meetings [51]
The Security Council is organized in a way to be able
to function continuously. The
representatives of its members must be present at all time at the United
Nations Headquarters. The Security
Council may meet elsewhere than at Headquarters; in 1972, it held a session in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia ,
and the following year it met in Panama
City
The Security Council holds periodic
meetings at which each of its members may, if it so desires, be represented by
a member of its government or by a designated representative. Periodic meetings are held twice a year, at
such times determined by the Council.
The Council holds meetings at the call of
its president at any time he deems necessary, at the request of any of its
members, at the request of any member of the United Nations[52],
at the request of the General Assembly,[53]
or at the request of the Secretary General.[54]
Any member of the United Nations which is
not a member of the Security Council may participate, without vote, in the
discussion of any question brought before the Council whenever the latter
considers that the interests of that member are specifically affected.[55] Any member of the United Nations which is not
a member of the Security Council or any state which is not a member of the
United Nations, if it is a party to a dispute under consideration by the
Security Council, shall be invited to participate, without vote, in the
discussion relating to the dispute.[56] The participation of a non- member of the
United Nations will be according to the rules and conditions determined by the
Security Council.
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
is the principal organ of the United Nations which coordinates the economic and
social work of the United Nations and the specialized agencies and
institutions, known as the United Nations family organizations.
A. Composition and Voting
The
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations is composed of 54 members
elected by the General Assembly for three-year terms. [58] Membership on the Council are allotted based
on geographical representation; fourteen allocated to African States, eleven to
Asian States, six to Eastern European States, ten to Latin American and
Caribbean States, and thirteen to Western European and other States.
Each member
has one vote.[59] Decisions of the Economic and Social Council
are made by a majority of the members present and voting.[60]
B. Functions and Powers
The
functions and powers of the Economic and Social Council are:[61]
1.
To serve as the central forum for the discussion of international
economic and social issues, and for the formation of policy recommendations on
those issues addressed to member states of the United Nations and to the United
Nations itself or any of its family.
2.
To make or initiate studies and reports and make recommendations on
international economic, social, cultural, educational, health and related
matters.
3.
To promote respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
4.
To call international conferences and prepare draft conventions for
submission to the General Assembly.
5.
To coordinate the activities of the specialized agencies, through
consultations with and recommendations to them, and through recommendations to
the General Assembly and member states of the United Nations.
6.
To perform services, approved by the General Assembly, for members of
the United Nations and, on request, for the specialized agencies.
7.
To consult with non-governmental organizations concerned with matters
with which the Council deals.
The Economic and Social Council generally
holds one five-week long substantive session each year, alternating between New York and Geneva New York
The year-round work of the Economic and
Social Council is carried out in its subsidiary bodies, commissions and
committees, which meet at regular intervals and report back to the Council. The subsidiary system of the Council
includes:
·
Nine functional commissions, which are deliberative bodies whose role
is to consider and make recommendations on issues in their areas of
responsibilities and expertise.
·
Five regional commissions (for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe,
Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Asia )
whose role is to initiate measures and promote the economic development of each
region and strengthening the economic relations of the countries in that
region, both among themselves and with other countries of the world.[63]
·
Four standing committees: for Programme and Coordination, on Human
Settlement, on Non-Governmental Organizations, and on Negotiations with
International Agencies.
·
A number of expert bodies on subject such as development planning, natural
resources, and economic, social and cultural rights.
·
The executive committees and boards of various United Nations bodies
such as United Nations Children’s Fund, Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Development Programme, and World Food
Programme.
D. Relations
with Non-Governmental Organizations
The Charter of the United Nations
authorizes the Economic and Social Council to consult with non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) concerned with matters within its competence.[64] Over 1,500 NGOs have consultative status with
the Economic and Social Council. NGOs
with consultative status may send observers to attend the meetings of the
Council and its subsidiary bodies.
Because NGOs possess special experience and technical knowledge of value
to the Council’s work, they may express their views to the Council. They may submit written statements relevant
to the Council’s work. They may also
consult with the United Nations Secretariat on matters of mutual concern.
Over the years, the relationship between
the United Nations and the NGOs with consultative status has developed
significantly. Increasingly, NGOs act as
partners consulted on policy and programme matters, and as valuable links to
civil society. NGOs around the world are
increasing in number. They are working
daily with the United Nations to help achieve the objectives of this
Organization.
IV. Trusteeship
Council [65]
The Trusteeship Council is one of the principal organs
of the United Nations. It is entrusted
to supervise the administration of Trust
Territories League
of Nations , to promote the advancement of the inhabitants of the
11 original trust Territories and their progress towards self-government or
independence.[66] The
Trusteeship Council is composed of the five permanent members of the Security
Council, namely China , France , the Russian
Federation , the United
Kingdom and the United States
The Charter of the United Nations
authorizes the Trusteeship Council: to
examine and discuss reports from the Administrating Authority on the political,
economic and educational advancement of the peoples of Trust Territories
The objective of the Trusteeship Council
has been fulfilled. All the trust Territories
have attained self-government or independence, either as separate states or by
joining neighboring independence countries.
The Trusteeship Council by amending its rules of procedure will now meet
as and where occasion may require.
V. International
Court of Justice [67]
The International Court of Justice (ICJ),
whose seat is at The Hague (Netherlands
A. Parties to the ICJ
The ICJ is open to the parties to its
Statute, which automatically includes all members of the United Nations. [70] A state which is not a member of the United
Nations may become a party to the Statute of
the ICJ, as is the case for Switzerland, on conditions determined in
each case by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security
Council.[71] The Court is not open to private individuals.
B. Functions of the ICJ
The ICJ has two functions: Judiciary and advisory functions.
1.
Judiciary Function:[72] The Court has the power to settle legal
disputes between states; only states can be parties in cases before the Court.[73] All states which are parties to the ICJ
Statute can be parties to cases before the Court. Other states can refer cases to the Court
under conditions determined by the Security Council.
2.
Advisory Function:[74] The Court has the power to give advisory
opinions on any legal questions. Both
the General Assembly and the Security Council can request the Court to give
advisory opinions on legal questions.
Other organs of the United Nations and specialized agencies, when
authorized by the General Assembly, can request advisory opinions of the Court
on legal questions within the scope of their activities.
C. Jurisdiction of the ICJ
The jurisdiction of the ICJ covers: (1)
All cases which states refer to it; (2) All matters provided for in the Charter
of the United Nations; and (3) All matters provided for in treaties or
conventions in force.[75]
The Court is competent to entertain a dispute only if the States
concerned have accepted its jurisdiction in one or more of the
following ways:[76]
(1) By
the conclusion between them of a special agreement to submit the dispute to the
Court.
(2) By signing a treaty or convention
which provides for referral to the Court.
Usually a treaty or a
convention includes a jurisdictional clause, i.e., a provision providing that
in the event of any dispute over its interpretation or application,
one of them may refer the dispute to the Court.
Several hundred treaties or conventions contain such a clause.
(3) By making a declaration accepting
the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court in the event of a dispute with another State having made a similar
declaration. The Statute of the
Court provides that the states parties to the Statute may at any time declare
that they recognize as compulsory ipso facto and without special
agreement, in relation to any other state accepting the same obligation, the
jurisdiction of the Court in all legal disputes concerning: (a) the
interpretation of a treaty; (b) any question of international law; (c) the
existence of any fact which, if established, would constitute a breach of an
international obligation; (d) the nature or extent of the reparation to be made
for the breach of an international obligation.
Such a declaration may exclude certain classes of cases.
The Statute provides that in case of
doubt as to whether the Court has jurisdiction, it is the Court itself which
decides.[77]
D. Rules applied by the ICJ
In accordance with Article 38 of its
Statute, the Court, in deciding disputes submitted to it, applies:
(1) International conventions,
whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the
contesting states;
(2) International customs, as
evidence of a general practice accepted as law;
(3) The general principles of law
recognized by civilized nations;
(4) Judicial decisions and the
teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of various nations, as
subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law;
The Court may decide a case ex aequo et
bono (on the basis of equity), if the parties agree thereto.
E. Decisions
of the ICJ
The decision of the ICJ has no binding
force except between the parties and in respect of that particular case.[78] The judgment is final and without appeal.[79] Each member of the United Nations must comply
with the decision of the Court in any case to which it is a party. [80] If any party to a case fails to perform the
obligations incumbent upon it under a judgment rendered by the Court, the other
party may have recourse to the Security Council, which may, if it deems
necessary, make recommendations or decide upon measures to be taken to give
effect to the judgment.[81]
F. Composition of the ICJ [82]
The Court is composed
of 15 judges elected by the General Assembly and Security Council,
voting independently. The judges are
chosen on the basis of their qualifications, not on their nationality. They must possess the qualifications required
in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices,
or be jurists of recognized competence in international law. In choosing them, care is taken to ensure
that the principal legal systems of the world are represented, and that no two
judges be nationals of the same state.
The judges are elected for a nine-year term, and may be re-elected. Elections are held every three years for
one-third of the seats, and retiring judges may be re-elected. When the Court does not include a judge possessing
the nationality of a State party to a case, that State may appoint
a person to sit as a judge ad hoc for the purpose of the case. The judges do not represent their governments but
are independent magistrates. They take
oath to exercise their powers impartially and conscientiously. They cannot engage in any other occupation
during their term of office.
The Court elects its President and
Vice-President for three years; they may be re-elected. It appoints its Registrar.
The Court normally sits in plenary
session, but it may form smaller units called chambers, composed of three or
more judges. Judgments given by chambers
are considered as rendered by the full Court.
VI. Secretariat [83]
The Secretariat of the United
Nations is the administrative organ of the Organization. It is composed of the Secretary General and
the staff appointed by the Secretary General.
The Secretary General is at the head of the Secretariat. The staff of the Secretariat work at the
United Nations Headquarters in New
York
A. International Character of
the Members of the Secretariat [84]
The Secretary General and
the staff of the Secretariat are international civil servants. They answer to the United Nations alone for
their activities. They must refrain from
any action which may reflect on their position as international officials
responsible only to the Organization.
They take oath not to seek or receive instructions from any government
or outside authority. They enjoy such
privileges and immunities as are necessary for independent exercise of their
functions in connection with the Organization.
Member states of the United Nations undertake to respect the exclusively
international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary General and
the staff and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their
responsibilities.
B. Duties of the Secretariat
The Secretariat carries out
the diverse day-to-day work of the Organization. It services the other principal organs of the
United Nations and administers the programmes and policies laid down by
them. The duties carried out by the
Secretariat are as varied as the issues dealt with the United Nations. These
include, for example: administering peacekeeping operations, mediating
international disputes, surveying economic and social trends and problems,
preparing studies on subjects of international concern, organizing
international conferences on issues of international concern, monitoring the
extent to which the decisions of the United Nations organs are being carried
out, interpreting speeches and translating documents into the Organization’s
official languages,[85]
and providing information about the work of the United Nations.
C. The Secretary General
The
Secretary General as described by the Charter is the chief administrative
officer of the United Nations.[86] He is appointed by the General Assembly upon
the recommendation of the Security Council for a five-year, renewable
term. However, he is much more
than the chief administrative officer of the United Nations. He is an international diplomat, activist,
conciliator and advocate. He stands
before the international community as the very emblem of the United
Nations. His task involves great
imagination and creative actions.
The Secretary General is responsible for
the administration of the Secretariat of the United Nations, and the
appointment of its staff.[87] He speaks for, and represents the will of the
international community. He brings to
the attention of the Security Council any matter which appears to threaten
international peace and security.[88] He performs such other functions as are
entrusted to him by the Security Council, the General Assembly and the other
principal organs of the United Nations.[89] He offers his good offices or mediates (he,
his senior staff or a person designated by him) to prevent or settle
international disputes. He issues an
annual report on the work of the United Nations which appraises its activities
and outlines future priorities. Each
Secretary General also defines his tasks by taking into consideration the
contemporary demands required from the United Nations.
The work of the Secretary General entails
continuous daily consultations with world leaders and other individuals,
attendance at sessions of various bodies of the United Nations, and worldwide
travel as part of the overall effort to improve the state of international affairs.
The present Secretary General of the
United Nations, and the eighth occupant of the post, is Mr. Ban Ki Moon of Korea
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Chapter Three
The Role of the United Nations in Maintaining International Peace and Security [90]
The maintenance of international peace and
security represents the primary purpose behind the establishment of the United
Nations. It reflects the intentions and
desires of its founders who sought to establish an international organization
for achieving this end. It is a
prerequisite to any other purpose of the United Nations. Without it no friendly relations, no
international cooperation, and no harmonization of nation’s actions could be
achieved.
Because of the importance of international
peace and security, the founders of the United Nations insisted on it and
emphasized it in the preamble and the Charter of the Organization. They stated all the possible principles,
methods and procedures which are to be followed to attain this end.
The theme “we are going to create a
collective security system, and this time we are going to make it work,”
dominated the entire process of planning and formulating the United Nations
Charter.[91] The Charter provided a system for the pacific
settlement or adjustment of disputes, and the use of collective measures in
threat to or breaches of peace and acts of aggression.
The first method provided by the system is
that of seeking peaceful settlement or adjustment of disputes and situation by
peaceful means listed in the Charter.
The second method is that of taking collective actions (measures) of a
coercive nature for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and for
the suppression of acts of aggression and other breaches of the peace. Through these two methods delineated in Chapter
VI entitled “Pacific Settlement of Disputes” and Chapter VII entitled “Actions
with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of
Aggression” of the Charter, the United Nations primarily exercises its role in
maintaining international peace and security.
I. Pacific Settlement
of Disputes [92]
Chapter VI of the Charter of the United
Nations contains the procedures for the pacific settlement of disputes. Article 33 obliges the parties to a dispute,
“the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of
international peace and security,” to seek a solution by “negotiation, enquiry,
mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional
agencies or arrangement, or other peaceful means of their own choice.”[93] Under this Article, any party to any dispute
which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security
is obligated to seek, first of all, a settlement by the traditional peaceful
procedures already established in international law.
In the contemplation of the Charter, the
first recourse of nations in dispute should be to any of the peaceful methods,
in a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not
endangered. This position is justified,
first, on the grounds that it will relieve the United Nations of the burden of
handling too large number of controversies and, on the second, that it will
minimize the interference of the United Nations in the affairs of sovereign
states.[94]
However, should the parties to a dispute
fail to observe their obligation under Article 33 or their attempts be
unsuccessful, the United Nations would intervene to consider the matters and to
give its recommendations and decisions under the Charter. The Security Council is given the primary
responsibility regarding peace and security.
Whatever the action taken by the parties, they cannot prejudice the
right of the Security Council to intervene by investigation or recommendation
of appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment or settlement of any dispute
which is likely to endanger international peace and security. The Security Council is entitled to intervene
either by its own initiative,[95]
upon invitation of any member of the United Nations,[96]
upon a call of attention by the General Assembly,[97] upon
a call of attention by the Secretary General,[98] or
upon a complaint of a party to a dispute.[99]
To discharge its duty for maintaining
international peace and security, the Security Council may follow three courses
of action. Firstly, the Security Council
may call upon the parties to a dispute, the continuance of which is likely to
endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, to settle their
dispute by any of the peaceful means listed in Article 33(1).[100] Secondly, it may, in case of a dispute of the
nature referred to in Article 33, recommend “appropriate procedures or methods
of adjustment.”[101] Thirdly, it may recommend “terms of
settlement as it may consider appropriate.”[102]
Although under the Charter the Security
Council is given the primary role for maintaining international peace and
security, the General Assembly is not excluded from doing so. The General Assembly may call the attention
of the Security Council to situations which are likely to endanger the
maintenance of international peace and security.[103] It may discuss any question relating to the
maintenance of international peace and security, and may make recommendations
with regard to any dispute or situation to the concerned states or to the
Security Council or to both.[104] It may recommend measures for the peaceful
adjustment of any situation, regardless of origin, which it deems likely to
impair the general welfare or friendly relations among nations.[105] Questions, disputes or situations may be
brought before the General Assembly by the Security Council,[106]
by any member of the United Nations,[107]
or by any state which is a party to a dispute.[108]
However, the General Assembly is prevented
from making any recommendation with regard to any dispute or situation while
the Security Council is exercising its function in respect of it, unless the
Council so requests.[109] This is a limitation imposed on the authority
the General Assembly in making recommendations relating to the maintenance of
international peace and security.
In practice with regard to the pacific
settlement of disputes (or “peacemaking” as it may be known),[110]
the United Nations has provided various means through which conflicts,
disputes, and situations are contained and resolved.[111] The Security Council has applied all the
available diplomatic techniques in various international disputes, in addition
to open debate and behind-the scenes discussion and lobbying. It has called upon the parties to a dispute
to resort to any peaceful means of their own choice to settle their
disputes. It has recommended to the
parties specific appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment. It has recommended to the parties ways to
resolve their disputes, or terms of settlement.[112] It has dispatched special envoys or missions
for specific tasks, such as investigation, fact finding, negotiation or
reconciliation. It has requested the
Secretary General to assist the parties in reaching a settlement to their
disputes; the impartiality of the Secretary General is one of the United
Nations’ assets. The Secretary General
has taken diplomatic initiatives to encourage and maintain the momentum of
negotiations. He has used his “good
offices” for mediating, or to exercise “preventive diplomacy”, that is, to take
actions in order to prevent dispute from arising, to resolve them before they
escalate into conflicts or to limit the spread of conflicts when they
occur. In many instances, the Secretary
General has been instructed to avert threats to peace or to secure peace
agreements.
To foster the maintenance of peace, the
General Assembly has held special or emergency special sessions on issues such
as disarmament, and the question of Palestine
Under Chapter VI relating the pacific
settlement of disputes and other articles of the Charter of the United Nations,
the Security Council and the General Assembly may exercise their role in
maintaining international peace and security by discussions, investigations and
recommendations. But the possibility
remains that pacific settlement may fail to resolve the disputes which may
become so serious as to constitute threats to or breaches of the peace or acts
of aggression. In such cases, the United
Nations may intervene by taking collective actions of coercive nature for the
prevention and removal of the consequences of such disputes.
II. Collective
Enforcement Actions
The
method of using collective enforcement (coercive) actions by the United Nations
is provided by Chapter VII of the Charter and the provisions of the “Uniting
for Peace” Resolution.[113]
A. Chapter VII of the
Charter [114]
Chapter VII authorizes the Security
Council to deal with threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of
aggression, and to take collective enforcement actions (measures) in order to
maintain or restore international peace and security. The Security Council, under article 39, the
first article of Chapter VII, is given a wide discretion in determining “the
existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of
aggression”, and to “make recommendations”, or to “decide what measures shall
be taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore
international peace and security.” Such
a determination under Article 39 is an essential pre-condition to the operation
of Chapter VII of the Charter; the Security Council cannot exercise its powers
under this Chapter, particularly Articles 41 and 42, without such a
determination made expressly or implicitly.[115]
Before exercising its most far-reaching
powers under Articles 41 and 42, the Security Council, under Article 40, may
call upon the parties concerned to comply with such provisional measures as it
deems necessary or desirable in order to prevent an aggravation of the
situation, provided that such provisional measures shall be without prejudice
to the rights, causes, or position of the parties concerned. Such provisional measures may include a
demand that all parties concerned cease fire or withdraw their forces behind
specified truce lines.
In case of failure of the parties or any
of them to comply with the provisional measures, or the provisional measures
are inappropriate, the Security Council may proceed to recommend or decide
measures under Articles 41 and 42. Under
Article 41, the Security Council may decide to take measures not involving the
use of armed force to give effect to its decisions, and may call upon the
members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These measures may include complete or
partial interruption of economic relations, means of transportation, means of
communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.
Should the measures of Article 41 be
inadequate or have proved inadequate, the Security Council may decide to take
measures under Articles 42. The Security
Council may take armed action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary
to maintain or restore international peace and security.[116] This action may include demonstrations,
blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of members of the
United Nations.
To assist the Security Council in planning
for the application of armed forces, It is required the establishment of a
“Military Staff Committee” consisting of the Chiefs of Staff of the permanent
members of the Security Council or their representatives.[117] This Committee is responsible under the
Security Council for the strategic direction and command of any armed forces
placed at the disposal of the Security Council; this Committee ceased its
operation in 1948.[118]
To give assurance that effective forces
will be at the disposal of the Security Council, all members of the United Nations
undertake, under Article 43 of the Charter, to make available to the Security
Council, on its call and in accordance with a special agreement or agreements,
armed forces, assistance, and facilities, including rights of passage,
necessary for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security; no
such special agreements under Article 43 have ever concluded between the United
nations and its member states. Members
are also required to make available national air-force contingents for combined
international enforcement action; no such contingents have been ever made
available.[119]
To assure the effectiveness of the
enforcement action decided by the Security Council, members of the United
Nations are required to join in affording mutual assistance in carrying out
such measures.[120] Moreover, the action required to carry out
the decisions of the Security Council for the maintenance of international
peace and security must be taken by all the members of the United Nations or by
some of them, as the security Council may determine.[121] All the members of the United Nations are
bound by the decisions of the Security Council under Chapter VII of the
Charter.
In practice, the Security Council has
exercised its powers under Chapter VII of the Charter. It has decided on collective enforcement
measures to maintain or restore international peace and security.[122] Such measures have ranged from economic and
diplomatic sanctions to military actions.
The Security Council has resorted to
economic sanctions as enforcement measures to maintain or restore international
peace and security. Economic sanctions
have taken many forms, ranging from specific trade ban to full embargoes. Such sanctions were imposed, for example,
against South Africa ’s
apartheid regime in 1977, Iraq
in 1990, the Former Yugoslavia in 1991, and Libya
The Security Council has authorized the
use of military forces, for peace-keeping and peace-enforcing actions, to
maintain or restore international peace and security. Peace-enforcing (Enforcement) actions were
authorized against North Korea
in 1950 and Iraq Palestine
(1948), in the Congo (1960),
in Cyprus (1964), in Lebanon 1978, in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Although Chapter VII of the Charter which
empowers the Security Council to decide collective enforcement measures for the
purpose of maintaining peace and security does not empower the General Assembly
with such authority, this organ can exercise such authority under the
provisions of the “Uniting for Peace” Resolution.
B. Uniting for Peace
Resolution [124]
The Uniting for Peace Resolutions grants
the General Assembly the powers to act in place of the Security Council if the
latter fails, because of the lack of unanimity of its permanent members, to
discharge its primary responsibility in maintaining international peace and
security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of
the peace or act of aggression.[125] Under this Resolution, the General Assembly
may do by recommendations anything the Security Council may do by decisions
under chapter VII of the Charter. The
Assembly may consider the matter immediately and recommend to members collective
measures, including in case of a breach of peace or act of aggression the use
of armed forces deemed necessary for the maintenance or restoration of
international peace and security.[126]
To ensure that the General Assembly could
act promptly and effectively, the Uniting for Peace Resolution provides a
procedure for calling of an emergency special session of the Assembly. The Assembly may meet in an emergency special
session within twenty-four hours upon the request of any nine members of the
Council, by the majority of members of the United Nations, or by one member if
the majority of members concur.[127]
Under the Uniting for Peace Resolution,
the General Assembly asserts its right to act in the same manner that the
Security council can act under Chapter VII of the Charter, but only when the
Council fails to act. The Assembly may
make a determination of the kind referred to in Article 39, and may recommend
collective measures to be undertaken in case of threat to the peace, breach of
the peace, or act of aggression. It
should be noted that this right granted to the Assembly is not intended to be a
substitute for the Council’s responsibility for the maintenance of
international peace and security, but rather a supplement.[128]
The General Assembly had its first
experience with the Uniting for Peace Resolution on February 1, 1951, after the
Soviet Union’s veto blocked the Security Council from taking any action against
the intervention of the People’s Republic of China
in Korea Korea constituted an act of aggression, and
calling upon the Chinese Government to cease hostilities and to withdraw from Korea
The Uniting for Peace Resolution was again
implemented during the 1956 Middle East Crisis.
The General Assembly assumed its responsibility for maintaining
international peace and security after the failure of the Security Council to
discharge its duty because of the veto power used by the United Kingdom and France Suez Canal and the
restoration of secure freedom of navigation.[131] Also, it recommended that all members of the
United Nations refrain from introducing military goods in the area of
hostilities and from any acts which would delay or prevent the implementation
of its resolution. In the last
resolution, the Assembly decided the establishment of the United Nations
Emergency Force for the task of implementing the measures provided for in its
first resolution.[132]
Regarding the Israeli annexation of the
occupied Syrian Golan Heights, the failure of the Security Council to take any
action against Israel ,
because of the United States Israel
on a voluntary basis, and laying the groundwork for the possible expulsion of Israel
The practice of the General Assembly
demonstrates that this organ can, under the Uniting for Peace Resolution, do by
recommendations anything the Security Council can do by decisions under Chapter
VII of the Charter. The Assembly can
make a determination, call for provisional measures, and recommend economic,
diplomatic and military measures similar to those which the Security Council
can take under Articles 39, 40, 41, and 42 of the Charter. However, the recommendations of the General
Assembly under the Uniting for Peace Resolution do not have the legal force and
effect that the Council’s decisions have.
Such recommendations are not legally binding upon members of the United
Nations. They do not legally commit
members to action. However, although
this might be the case, it might logically be expected that a resolution by the
Assembly that has broad support and to which the great majority of members of
the United Nations have committed themselves to the extent of voting for it,
would receive as favorable a response in terms of compliance as a resolution by
the Security Council.[135]
C. United Nations Forces
[136]
The use of military forces by the United
Nations for the purpose of maintaining and restoring international peace and
security represents the effective measures which may be employed by the
Organization under the system of collective actions. On many occasions, the United Nations has
established international military forces.[137]
The constitutional bases for the establishment of each of these forces have
been different. The tasks which these
forces have been required to perform have ranged from a mere policing action to
an enforcing action. The composition,
size and command have varied. The
relations of the forces with and within states have been diverse.
The constitutional bases for the
establishment of United Nations forces are found in the Charter of the United
Nations and the Uniting for Peace Resolution.
Under the Charter, the Security Council may, in the last resort, take
armed action involving the establishment of international forces for the
purpose of enforcing its decisions for ending a threat to the peace, breach of
the peace, or act of aggression.
Articles 29, 39, 40, 41 and 42 provide possible constitutional bases for
the establishment of United Nations military forces by the Security Council in
order to maintain or restore international peace and security. Article 29 authorizes the Security Council to
establish such subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of
its functions; the establishment of United Nations forces is coming within this
scope of authority. United Nations
forces may be established as collective measures authorized to be taken by the
Security Council under Articles 39, 40, 41 and 42 of Chapter VII.
With regard of the General Assembly, the
Uniting for Peace Resolution provides a constitutional basis for the
establishment of United Nations forces by the General Assembly. Further constitutional bases may be found in
Articles 10, 11, 14, and 22 of the Charter of the United Nations. Under Articles 10, 11, and 14, the General
Assembly may establish United Nations forces for the task of implementing its
recommendations with regard to any question, situation or dispute, for the
purpose of maintaining international peace and security. Article 22 authorizes the general Assembly to
establish such subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of
its functions; the establishment of United Nations forces are coming within
this scope of authority
The United Nations forces have performed
various functions and tasks in accordance to the circumstances of each
case. The functions and tasks of the
United Nations forces have ranged from a peace-enforcing nature to a
peace-keeping nature.[138] The United Nations peace-keeping forces have
been entrusted to perform peace-building functions in addition to the
peace-keeping functions. Peace-building
functions are functions aiming to support environments and structures which
strengthen and consolidate peace and security; areas of activity include
military security, civil law and order, judicial-building or reform, human
rights, political progress (referendums and elections),[139]
administration, health, education, reconstruction, social development and
economic development. The United Nations peace-keeping forces are increasingly
charged with functions related to peace-building, in addition to those related to the maintenance of peace
and security. Generally, they are
charged to maintain ceasefires and separate forces, to prevent the recurrence
of war and violence, to implement comprehensive settlement, and to protect or
facilitate humanitarian operations and activities. It seems that there is no limit on the
functions which the United Nations forces can perform. Future conflicts are likely to present new
and complex challenges to the international community, to which it will
respond. Effective responses to these
challenges will require courageous and imaginative courses of action to be
taken, and new means and tools for peace and security to be utilized.
Over the years the United Nations forces
have been entrusted with the following missions: to repel
an aggressor or aggressors by using full military actions by air, sea
and land; [140] to
secure or supervise cease-fire, truce and
armistice agreements; to control frontiers; to secure the withdrawal of armed forces and
personnel of the conflicting parties; to maintain a buffer zone between the
conflicting parties; to participate in mine clearance; to assist in the
exchange of prisoners of war; to ensure the release of political prisoners or
detainees; to assist in and secure safe return of refugees and displaced
inhabitants; to establish and maintain safe zones or protected areas; to
implement or assist in the implementation of peace agreements; to disarm or
disband (or to assist in or supervise the disarming or disbanding) armed
groups; to collect, storage or destruction of weapons; to establish and
maintain law and order (security and stability); to restore peace and achieving
national reconciliation; to prevent the occurrence of civil war; to maintain
the territorial integrity and independence of a state; to assist legitimate governments
in returning or maintaining their effective authority over their territory or
in specific areas; to support transitional governments; to provide humanitarian
protection; to coordinate, facilitate and protect humanitarian relief
operations; to secure vital infrastructures; to establish or maintain the
functioning of civil service facilities; to prepare, hold, or monitoring free
referendums or elections; to administer a country, a territory or a specific
zone; to provide technical assistance for institutional building, such as the
building of law enforcement institutions and judicial organizations; to perform
certain civil administrative functions; to secure or monitor the respect of
human rights and fundamental freedoms; to assist in the development and
economic reconstruction of a particular territory.
In the practice of the United Nations, the
structure, composition, size and command of the United Nations forces have
varied in accordance to the circumstances of each case, and the tasks and functions
they have been requested to perform.[141] The United Nations forces have been composed
of national contingents voluntarily provided by member states of the United
Nations. Their size ranged from several
observers to thousands and hundreds of thousands of persons.[142] The strategic and political controls over the
forces have been for the United Nations (the Security Council, the General
Assembly or the Secretary General). The
direct operational responsibility and day-to-day administration of a force have
been entrusted to the commander of the force.
The commander has operated under the instruction and guidance of the
United Nations. Since the United Nations
forces have been composed of national contingents from the contributing states,
each of these contingents has been placed under the command of its own national
commanding officers who have been under the control
of the United Nations. The chain of
command has run directly from the commander of the force to the commanding
officers of each national contingent. A
force has been subject to orders and instructions only from its commander and,
through him, from the United Nations.
The officers of the contingents have to receive their instructions and
directions from the commander of the force, advised and assisted by his
staff. The commanding offices of the
units have been responsible to the commander of the force for the proper
functioning and discipline of their personnel.
The United Nations has established its
international forces on the basis of voluntary contribution of its member
states. The contributing states have
entered into negotiations with the Secretary General acting on behalf of the
United Nations, and have concluded agreements with him. They have provided contingents to serve under
the control of the United Nations, and its political and strategic direction in
the field. However, a contributing state
has retained the right to withdraw all its contingents or a particular unit or
to replace the national commanders of its units, after a notice to the United
Nations of its decision. Nevertheless,
it has been required that any change in the contingents must have been made in
consultation between the contributing states and the commander of the United
Nations forces. The national contingents have retained their separate national
identities and organizational units. The national commanders have retained
direct responsibility for national contingents serving under them. Although the
national commanders have the right to communicate with their governments, they
have had to receive instructions from the United Nations through the commander
of the United Nations forces, not from their governments. In this context, the United Nations have been
regarded international forces representing the interests of the United Nations
(the international community), not the national interests of contributing
states. This has been the main principle
upon which the relationship between the contributing states and the United
Nations forces has been based.
The practice of the United Nations has
demonstrated that the consent of the host states on whose territory the United
Nations forces have operated has been a pre-condition for the presence of these
forces.[143] The consent of the host states has been
required in every action taken by the United Nations. It has been required for the entry,
stationing and remaining of the forces.
With regard to the questions of the composition, functions of the force,
and the contributing states, the position has been that the view of the host
state has been one of the determined elements to be considered, although the
United Nations has had the sole and complete freedom of decision on these
questions.
The United Nations, on many occasions, has
performed different functions, and played various roles. Its forces have constituted an executive
action on behalf of the United Nations for the purpose of maintaining
international peace and security. Although
in most of the crises, the United Nations has succeeded in preventing further
fighting between the parties, it has not succeeded in finding solutions, or in
reaching lasting peace to most of these cries.
It has failed to respond to major crises, prevent wars and violence, or
repel aggression. Its efforts in urging
and encouraging parties to settle their differences peacefully have not been
successful in most cases brought before it.
Its efforts to enforce world law, peace and order have not been
effective or successful.
The experience of the United Nations in
maintaining international peace and security cannot be viewed with complete
satisfaction. This imperfection raises a
serious question regarding the effectiveness of the United Nations system for
maintaining international peace and security.
Apart from all the arguments in this respect, the United Nations present
system for maintaining international peace and security through the use of
military forces constitutes the better system that has ever been established by
the international community. It is not
clear that the situation in the international stage would have been better if
the United Nations system had been differently constructed. The present United Nations system provides
effective means and processes which may be employed by the international
community for the maintenance and restoration of international peace and
security. The defect is not related only
to the system, but primarily to the unwillingness of certain members of the
United Nations to make it work.
International peace and security is entirely dependent upon the
willingness of the member states of the United Nations to cooperate toward this
end. Until they are willing to comply
with international law and order, this system cannot operate effectively.
The effectiveness of using forces by the
United Nations to achieve its objectives has been adversely affected by the
primary weakness of the United Nations which lies within the divisions among
its members, particularly the super powers, the permanent members of the
Security Council. The Security Council,
which is entrusted with the primary responsibility for maintaining peace and
security, is dominated by policies and interests of its permanent members. Its decisions reflect such one-sided interests. Partiality and double standard is the name of
the game played by the super powers. The
members of the United Nations, including the super powers, have failed to
cooperate together in times of crises.
They have failed to agree on important issues, and to make full use of
the United Nations resources available for solving major international
disputes. They have failed to agree on
peaceful solutions or adjustments of major world crises. They have failed to conclude agreements,
under Article 43 of the Charter and Section C of the Uniting for Peace
Resolution, making available to the United Nations the forces and facilities
for the full discharge of its responsibility.
The super powers failed to cooperate together within the Military Staff
Committee provided for in Article 47 of the Charter, thus this Committee ceased
to operate in 1948.
The absence of special agreements under
Article 43 of the Charter and the lack of cooperation between the members of
the United Nations, particularly the permanent members of the Security Council,
constitute two major factors which have primarily contributed to the
ineffectiveness of the United Nations system relating to the maintenance of
international peace and security, and to the dissatisfaction with the work of
the Organization.
To override the problems facing the
international community, it is necessary to have a comprehensive and genuine
prospect for international peace and security.
Peace and security should be universal value-goals which must be produced,
promoted and shared in a manner whereby everyone can enjoy them. Security must include not only freedom from
war and threats of war, but also full opportunity to preserve, promote and
share all values of mankind by peaceful non-coercive means. Peace must include the conditions of peace
and the reduction of the severe frustrations which drive nations or peoples to
war. Peace and security must be a
dynamic and continuous world process for the realization of freedom, justice
and progress on a world-wide scale. They
must facilitate the necessary environment for creative changes in the general
interest of mankind to take place.
The realization of such comprehensive and
genuine peace and security requires the existence of a comprehensive and
genuine international organization, a world decision-making process. The United Nations can be such an
organization. It is one of the most
hopeful factors on the world horizon. It
is, with the extent of its experience, suitable to be the comprehensive world
decision-making process that will be dedicated to regulating the processes of
public order of the world community.
First, however, series of amendments to the Charter of the United
Nations must be made to transform this Organization into the required comprehensive
and genuine international organization.
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Chapter
Four
Other
Activities of the United Nations
The
maintenance of international peace and security is the primary, but not the
only purpose of the United Nations. The
United Nations is also entrusted to achieve international cooperation in the
economic, social, cultural and humanitarian field, as well as to promote and
encourage the respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all. [144] The activities of the United Nations in
achieving these ends are dealt with in the following.
The second major function
of the United Nations is to promote economic and social development
worldwide. The vast majority of the
resources available to the United Nations are devoted to economic development,
social
development and sustainable development of its member states. The United Nations engages in a large number
of activities, and sponsors a large number of agencies to meet this goal. Guiding the United Nations work is the
conviction that lasting international peace and security are possible only if
the economic and social well-being of people everywhere is assured. The United Nations’ Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) oversees these activities.
The efforts of the United Nations in this
respect have profoundly affected the lives and well-being of millions of people
throughout the world. Many of the
economic and social transformations that have taken place globally in the last
six decades have been significantly affected in their direction and shape by
the work of the United Nations. The
United Nations has been the global forum for debating on economic and social
issues, and for solving the many international problems. It also has been the global consensus-building
center for setting priorities and goals (on issues such as advancement of
women, human rights, environment protection and governance) for international
cooperation to assist countries in their development efforts and to foster a
supportive global economic environment.
The United
Nations system works in a variety of ways to promote its economic and
social aims. It formulates policies,
advises governments in their development plans, sets international norms and
standards, and mobilizes funds, to carry out programs for development.
The United Nations operates through
its many programs and its special agencies to promote economic development
and provide assistance and technical expertise to developing countries. The United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) is the principal organ coordinating the economic and social work of
the United Nations and its operational arms.
One of the United Nations programs is the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which helps negotiate international trade
agreements that stabilize prices and promote trade with developing countries.
Other program is the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which
coordinates all UN efforts in developing nations. UNDP has thousands of
projects operating around the world. It
is the world’s largest international agency providing development assistance on
technical issues. Others programs and
specialized agencies work to promote and develop areas such as international
trade, agriculture, industry, labor, transport and communications,
telecommunications, science and technology, poverty, hunger, health, education,
culture, drug control, crime prevention, and environment.
The United Nations also helps finance
development through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD), commonly known as the World Bank.
The IBRD helps developing nations get funding for projects. It grants loans to member countries to
finance specific projects and this in turn encourages foreign investments. A related agency, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) promotes international cooperation on monetary issues. The IMF encourages a stable, orderly pattern
of monetary exchange rates between nations.
II. UN
Activities in Humanitarian Assistance [146]
The United Nations is a major provider of
emergency relief and longer-term assistance responding to natural and man-made disasters
that are beyond the capacity of national authorities alone. Assistance includes food, shelter, medical
supplies and logistical support. The
United Nations is also a catalyst for action by governments and relief
agencies, and an advocate on behalf of people struck by emergencies.
The United Nations responds to natural and
man-made disasters on two fronts.[147]
On one hand it seeks to bring immediate relief to the victims, primarily
through its operational agencies. On the
other hand, it seeks effective strategies to prevent emergencies from arising
in the first place.
When disaster strikes, the United Nations
and its agencies rush to deliver humanitarian assistance. The United Nations has become increasingly
involved in providing humanitarian assistance to people in need. All too frequently, the humanitarian crises
to which the United Nations responds are caused by international conflict.[148] The United Nations can also respond to
humanitarian crises caused by natural disasters such as floods or hurricanes.[149] Agencies such as the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Program (WFP)
can mobilize international assistance in a short time frame to respond to a
crisis. [150]
To prevent disaster, the United Nations
seeks to reduce
the vulnerability of societies to disaster, and to address their man-made causes. United Nations Agencies and programs are
increasing their capacity in the area of early warning for
disaster-prevention. They assist
disaster-prone countries in developing contingency planning and other
preparedness measures. Conflict
prevention strategies address the root causes of war in a comprehensive
manner. They foster security, economic
growth, good governance and respect for human rights which are the best
protection against disaster, whether natural or man-made.
Increasingly, United
Nations agencies work with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) which
provide relief and assistance, as well as with the aid agencies of governments,
to coordinate a global response to humanitarian crises.
One
of the great achievements of the United Nations is the creation of a
comprehensive body of human rights law, which provides a universal and
internationally protected code of human rights.
Not only has the United Nations defined a broad range of internationally
accepted rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural
rights, it has also established mechanisms to promote and protect these rights
and to assist governments in carrying out their responsibilities.
On 10 December 1948, three years after the
establishment of the United Nations, the General Assembly adopted the
“Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” which spells out basic civil,
cultural, economic, political and social rights that all persons in every
country should enjoy. This Declaration
with the Charter of the United Nations constitutes the foundations of the human
rights law. Since then, this Declaration
has served as the inspiration for tens conventions and declarations which have
been concluded under the auspices of the United Nations on a wide range of
issues. In 1966 the “International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights” and the “International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” were adopted (entered into force in
1976). These two conventions take the
rights of the Universal Declaration a step further by translating these rights
into legally binding commitments and setting up bodies to monitor the
compliance of state parties. A large
majority of the world’s countries are parties to these Covenants. During the last six decades, other
conventions have been concluded dealing with matters such as punishment of
crime of genocide, status of refugees, elimination of all forms of racial
discrimination including discrimination against women, torture and other
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, rights of child, and rights of
all migrant workers and members of their families.
In addition to conventions, the United
Nations has adopted many declarations including standards and principles
relating to the protection of certain human rights; these declarations have no
binding force since they are not treaties (conventions). These declarations deal with maters such as:
rights of religion and belief; rights of persons belonging to national or
ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; and treatment of prisoners.
Although, virtually every United Nations
organ and specialized agency is involved to some degree in the field of human rights
and fundamental freedoms, the major United Nations body working to promote and
protect human rights is the “High Commission for Human Rights” which was
created in 1993 (the successor of the “United Nations Commission on Human
Rights” created in 1946). The major
task of the Commission is to strengthen the coordination and impact of the
United Nations human rights activities.
The commissioner oversees all the United Nations human rights programs,
works to prevent human rights violations, and investigates human rights
abuses. It also has the power to
publicize abuses taking place in any country, but does not have the authority
to stop them.
One of the United
Nations most visible recent activities regarding human rights has
been the creation of special war crimes tribunals to prosecute those
responsible for atrocities committed during the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia , Rwanda ,
and Sierra Leone
In conclusion, the role and scope of the
United Nations in promoting and protecting human rights continue to
expand. Through its international
machinery, the United Nations works on several fronts: as global conscience, as
lawmaker, as monitor, as nerve-center, as researcher, as forum of appeal, as
fact-finder, and as discreet diplomat.
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Chapter Five
The Evolving
United Nations
The establishment of the United Nations in
the closing months of the Second World War represented an important effort by
states to meet the needs for maintaining international peace and security, and
to grasp the presented opportunity. The
year 1945 was an appropriate moment for charting a new design for world
order. The Charter of the United Nations
emerged from the San Francisco Conference.
It represented a series of compromises among states with diverse
interests and varying political, economic and cultural backgrounds. The founders of the Charter hoped that most
of the compromises would endure. They
anticipated, however, that some of the compromises might not last. This was why many powers and functions of the
United Nations were stated in general terms with the expectation that they
would be interpreted in the light of future specific situation. Accordingly, provisions were made in Articles
108 and 109 of the Charter for its amendment and review.
The founder of the United Nations did not
intend the Charter to be a rigid perfect instrument, but rather a “human”
instrument that “has within it ample flexibility for growth and development,
for dynamic adaptation to changing conditions”.[152] The Charter was designed to lay a broad base
for an institution that might develop to meet changing needs.
The dramatic changes that occurred
immediately after the establishment of the United Nations inspired a doubt as
whether this new organization had been endowed with sufficient powers to
maintain world peace and security. The
appearance of the atomic bomb was one change that created a new phase for
mankind. The split of the Second World
War’s victors into two camps, East and West, was another change that for almost
half a century played an essential and dangerous role on the international stage. These changes have resulted in further
changes in the attitudes of nations and peoples. The United Nations has not been able to live
up to its promises and expectations, and to operate as effectively as its
founders had hoped. It has become
apparent that changes in the United Nations have been necessary in order to
cope with the situations and to adapt the functioning of the Organization in
the field of peace and security to constant threat of war.
Changes have been taken place within the
United Nations system. The Charter has
been subjected to changes in a variety of ways.
Certain articles have already fallen into disuse by not being
implemented or applied. Others have been
interpreted or applied by various organs and members of the United Nations in
ways that the founders of the United Nations did not contemplate. Special organs and agencies have been
created. Supplementary or supporting
treaties and agreements have been concluded.
Equally important, the organs and procedures of the United Nations have
undergone an evolutionary growth through the process of trail and error.
Although changes made to date have
affected the provisions of the Charter substantially, they have left its text
intact, except with regard to a few articles which were formally amended to
meet certain needs.[153] To some extent this has been due to the
difficulties inherent in the amending process, especially to the fact that any
one of the five permanent members of the Security Council could veto a proposed
amendment. This reality, however, has
not precluded numerous proposals for changes in the United Nations to be
introduced.
The following two sections deal with the
changes that have occurred on the international stage since the establishment
of the United Nations and their effects on the Organization, and with the
methods available for achieving changes in the United Nations which involve
informal ones used to date and formal ones provided in the Charter.
I. The United
Nations in a Changing World, 1945-2007
There is nothing similar in the whole
history of mankind. During only six
decades significant changes have taken place that have put the fate of man on a
crossroads, the crossroads of survival or total destruction.
Second World War was followed by
far-reaching scientific and human revolutions of a global nature. “The forces of science and technology were
unleashed in both negative and positive directions, creating in man both a new
sense of insecurity and terror and a renewed hope that a better life is within
his reach.”[154] Atomic energy and other advancement in
science, technology and medicine which have been brought to mankind with all of
their potential for good and evil have changed the relations of nations and
peoples.
The advancements have influenced persons’
and nations’ attitudes in a many ways.
There have been greater demands for self-determination, for democracy,
and for opportunities to improve the economic, educational and social status of
individuals, groups and nations. All
these have caused significant events to occur during the last sixty decades
since the establishment of the United Nations.
The most important events have been the liquidation of the colonial
system, and the rise and fall of the Soviet empire. These two events have affected the United
Nations. They have led to the expansion
in the membership of the United Nations, and to the shift of powers, functions
and influence within the United Nations.
A. Liquidation of
Colonial System
All the 45 percent of mankind that was
under the domination of the colonial powers in 1945 achieved independence by
1990.[155] The
prolonged and persisting struggles of national liberation movements and the
successful anticolonial campaign of the United Nations have brought an end to
the hundreds of years of western colonization of Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The colonial powers, after several wars among
themselves, lost their strength and became unable to maintain their empires in
the face of the awakened oppressed people of their colonies.
Since the time of its creation the United
Nations has been involved in a global campaign of anticolonialism and
decolonization, which reached its peak in 1960 and has maintained its full
momentum in succeeding decades. The
United Nations has made a distinctive and effective contribution to overturning
of the colonial system. Its attack upon
colonialism has been extensive, as the
multitude of words and resolutions on the subject that its different branches
have adopted demonstrates.[156]
The concern of the United Nations with the
colonial problem has been varied and extensive.
The 1960 “Declaration on Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and People” marked the culmination of drastic change in the relationship of the
United Nations to colonialism.[157] This declaration adopted by the General
Assembly has been an outstanding landmark in the movement against colonialism
by making the war against this system a major enterprise of the United Nations. In later resolutions by the General Assembly,
the war on colonialism was pushed several steps ahead. The legitimacy of colonial struggles for
self-determination and independence was recognized and all states were invited
to provide material and moral support to national liberation movements, i.e.,
the members of the United Nations were overtly invited to enlist in armed
struggles to overthrow colonial and racially discriminatory regimes.
The United Nations' campaign against
colonialism has been successful. In
2007, 47 years after the adoption of the declaration on decolonization, all
territories formally under colonial rule have become independent.
B. Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire
In 1945,
the victorious Red Army liberated Eastern European Countries from the Nazi
occupation. Three years after World War II all these countries had Communist
governments. Eastern European Countries became satellite states of the Soviet Union . The consolidation of power in Eastern
Europe by the Soviet Union and the emergence of the Soviet
Union as a nuclear power led to the polarization of the
world. The world split into two camps,
East and West, with conflicting ideologies and concerns. In May 1955, the Soviet
Union and its Eastern European Countries established the Warsaw
Pact as alliance for cooperation and defense among them. This was in response to the creation, in
April 1949, of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as organized
defense cooperation between the United
States of America United States of America and the Soviet Union during the
Second World War was replaced by distrust and competition. The “Cold War” between the East and the West
was embarked.
By using its military might and
intimidation, the Soviet Union was able for four and half decades, following
the Second World War, to maintain its control over East
Europe , and to influence world events. It formed friendships with a great number of
third world countries, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Middle
East .
In maintaining control over East Europe,
the Soviet Union and the Communist Governments
of these countries resorted to force to crash several revolts, e.g., the
Hungarian revolt of 1956, the Czechoslovakian revolts of 1967 and 1977, and the
Polish revolts of 1968, 1970 and 1981.
Although, the Soviet Union succeeded in
crashing these revolts, it failed to suppress the aspiration of East European
peoples for national independence and democracy.
With the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev to
power in 1985, a new kind of leadership was emerged in the Soviet
Union . President Gorbachev
was devoted to political and economic reforms in the Soviet
Union , and to improve relations with the West. This meant letting democracy take its course
in the Soviet Union and East Europe . Democracy
swept all over East Europe . In 1989, first
democratic non-communist government took over Poland Hungary Berlin
The Soviet Union ,
itself, was not immune from the spread of democracy and national independence.
In 1990, the three Baltic Republic , Estonia ,
Latvia and Lithuania were the first to declare independence
and seceded from the Soviet Union . In the
summer of 1991, the Russian people defeated the coup d'etat by the hard-line
communists who tried to recapture the power and put the Soviet
Union back on its past course. By the end of 1991, all the
Republics of the former Soviet Union achieved
national independence. The Soviet Union ceased to exist.
The fall of the Soviet Empire put an end
to the Cold War between the East and the West, with most of its consequences.
However, this fall resulted in the emergence of new problems. Ethnic wars
erupted in several Republics of the former Soviet Union, and in the former Yugoslavia
The above events have caused significant changes
in the United Nations. The changes have been reflected in the following two
areas: expansion in the membership of the
United Nations; and shifting powers, functions and influence within the United
Nations.
C. Expansion
in the Membership of the United Nations
The Most profound change, which
significantly affected the structure and the patterns of powers and influence
in the United Nations, is the increase in the number of members from 51 in 1945
to 191 in 2007. The majority of the states which
got together to lay the foundation for the United Nations were long-established
states with developed political, economic and social systems. They had substantial populations, and were
western in their general orientation.[158] The majority of members in 2007 represent
developing states which have not yet achieved stability in their political,
economic or social systems. In addition,
these states have various cultural backgrounds.
The priorities and concerns of the
majority in the early years of the United Nations were different from those of
the majority in the latter years. In the
early years, the majority took an anticommunist position on the Cold War
issues; relatively few states were uncommitted. In the latter years, the majority took a
neutral position concerning the East-West conflict. The problems of
decolonization and racial discrimination constituted a priority to this
majority since most of the states themselves were former colonies. States were
concerned about establishing their national identities, and developing their
political, economic and social systems.
At the present time the majority is devoted to cooperating in the field
of economic development and world peace and security. States are concern about their political,
economic and social development.
The expansion in the membership of the
United Nations has caused the rise of blocs and groupings of states around
common characteristics and interests of all kinds, as well as the emergence of
new issues, problems and priorities. These
blocs and groups which roughly approximate political parties have played a
significant role in the decision-making process of the United Nations. The largest of the blocs has been the Group
of 77 (or the developing Nations bloc), which has consisted of some 120 member
states. Next largest has been the
Non-Aligned Movement, which has consisted of some 90 members. Following has
been the 50-member African Group. Next
has been the Islamic Conference, which has consisted of 41 member states. Also, have been the 39-member Asian Group,
the 33-member Latin American Group, the 22-member Western European “and others”
Group, the 23-member Arab Group, and the 11 member Eastern European Group
(ceased in 1990). In addition, there
have been the smaller groups: the 5 Nordics, the 6-member Association of
Southeast Asian Countries; and the 10-member European Community.[159]
It is important to note that although
blocs have been extremely important in determining many outcomes in the organs
of the United Nations, they have not been invariably decisive. Many states have been belonging to more than
one bloc and have been subjected to various sorts of influences and interests,
which have affected their attitudes toward any issue. Blocs, except to some extent the Eastern
European Group before 1989, have not been concrete or cohesive in nature.[160] However, the tendency of states to get
together in the United Nations in voting blocs based on their special interests
has placed all the state members of the organization at the mercy of blocs
which command sufficient votes to initiate or prevent action of any kind.[161]
An important result of the expansion of
the membership of the United Nations has been the increase in the number of
non-permanent members of the Security Council from 6 to 10. These seats have been allocated as follows: 5
for Africa and Asia, 1 for Eastern Europe, 2 for Latin America, and 2 for Western Europe and “other states”.
Another aspect of the expansion of the
United Nations' membership in the sixties and the seventies was represented by
the shift of influence in the General Assembly, from the United States of America and its allies to the Soviet Union . The Soviet Union , which was in a minority position in the
early years, emerged as an influential power in the United Nations. Before 1989, the Soviet Union was able to
make common cause with the emerging majority in the United Nations, the nations
of Asia and Africa . Colonialism, national liberation,
self-determination, economic development and social justice were issues which
the Soviet Union not only was able to gain from, but they also gave it an
advantage over the Western Camp, the United States of America Soviet Union ,
with the new majority in the United Nations, was able during the years 1960 and
1989 to influence the outcomes of the General Assembly, other organs and
agencies of the United Nations. However,
as the result of the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1991, the United States
D. Shifting
Powers, Functions and Influence
The mechanism envisaged in the 1945 United
Nations Charter which vested upon the Security Council the primary
responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security proved
during the early years of the life of the Organization its defects. The Council, because of the veto, failed to
meet its responsibilities under chapters VI and VII
The success of the United Nations depends
primarily on the cooperation of the permanent members of the Security
Council. At the time the Charter was
written, its authors assumed that the major allied victors would find it in
their interests to cooperate to make the United Nations effective in order to
prevent the recurrence of another world war.[163] It soon became apparent, however, that the
silence of guns after the end of the Second World War put an end to their
cooperation. The Major victors split
into two camps with conflicting ideologies, views and concerns regarding the
necessary conditions of peace and security, and regarding the role which the
United Nations should play.
In the early years of the United Nations,
the Western powers, the US Soviet
Union as direct threats to its security, and therefore to be
prevented by the use of the veto in the Council. In this line, it looked upon the United
Nations more as means to be used to prevent action inimical to its own
interests than as means of cooperation for common purposes.[164]
The characteristics of the Cold War, such
as fear, distrust and lack of confidence in the other side, were behind the
failure of the United Nations to implement the enforcement provisions of the
Charter by the conclusion of Article 43 agreements making available to the
Council the forces and facilities necessary to the full discharge of its responsibilities.[165] This failure was the first major blow to the
United Nations system. The experience of the early years which was influenced
by the Cold War demonstrated that the veto power exercised by the Soviet Union made the Council an unreliable instrument
for providing collective security and maintaining international peace and
order. Responding to this reality, the
Western powers sought alternative means for providing collective security. The first means was the establishment of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on April 4, 19 49.
The inherent right of individual or collective self-defense recognized
by Article 51 was the basis on which NATO was founded. NATO became the basis
for organized defense cooperation among West European powers, United States and Canada
The second means sought by the Western
powers to deal with threats to international peace and security was the use of
the General Assembly as an alternative to the Security Council, in case the
latter was prevented from taking an action because of the veto. The General Assembly on November 3, 1950,
adopted the “Uniting for Peace” Resolution. [167]
In essence the “Uniting for Peace”
Resolution grants the General Assembly the power to act in place of the
Security Council only if the Council fails to discharge its primary
responsibility. Under it, the Assembly
may do by recommendations anything that the Council can do by decisions under chapter
VII VII
It is obvious from its provisions that the
Resolution provides a system quite different from the one the drafters of the
United Nations Charter intended. Instead
of “decisions” by the Council which members are obligated to carry out,
collective action is to be based upon “recommendations” by the Assembly which
are not legally binding upon members.[169] Also,
instead of “special agreement’ referred to in article 43 to be the basis for
making available to the Council armed forces, the armed forces under the
Resolution are to be made available to the Assembly by members on a voluntary
basis.
On the Eastern side, the Warsaw Pact was
concluded in May 1955 as an alternative means for collective cooperation and defense
for the Soviet Union and its Socialist allies,
in response to the creation of NATO and the adoption of the “Uniting for Peace”
Resolution.
The Cold War between the East and the West
had a negative affect on the United Nations system for maintaining peace and
security. The system weakened and became
distorted. The shift of powers and
functions with this regard from the United Nations to NATO and the Warsaw Pact
represented a very serious blow to the expectations, which the founders of the
international organization hoped to further.
The expectation to establish one world organization for the purpose of
taking effective collective measures to prevent and remove threats to the
peace, and to suppress acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, was
demolished. NATO and the Warsaw Pact
were two gigantic systems that function independently of the United Nations. Their rivalry and mutual fears resulted in arms race, polarization of the world
states, a weakened United Nations as an organization of collective security,
and the threat of nuclear war.[170]
The period of “détente”[171]
which followed the Cold War in the early seventies was unable to remove the
negative impact of the Cold War on the workability and effectiveness of the
United Nations. The world politics
during the years of “détente”, as it was during the years of the Cold War, was
mainly preoccupied with conflict between super powers, and arm race and
competition. The United States and the Soviet
Union continued behaving in the same manner they behaved during
the years of the Cold War. However, a
significant change relating to the center of influence in the United Nations
occurred. The influence upon the United
Nations which the US Soviet Union , who was able to mobilize the majority in
the Assembly, and even to some extent in the Council, to support its
position. The United
States found itself in the same shoes the Soviet Union had found itself in the past. US US
With the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991, the picture of the world changed. All the consequences of the Cold War ended. The United States
II.
Available Methods for Achieving Changes in
the United Nations
Many changes have taken place within the
United Nations system since the drafting of the Charter of the Organization in
1945. The Charter in 2007, as it has
been profoundly influenced during the past six decades by customs and usages,
interpretation, resolutions of various United Nations organs, supplementary or
supporting treaties, and the changing conditions in the international stage, is
hardly the Charter that was drafted in 1945.
The text of the Charter, except of
articles 23, 27, 61
and 109, is the same today as it was on June 26, 19 45, the day when the delegates of the
50 nations assembled at San Francisco
The founders of the United Nations meant
it to be a living organism that would grow with the changing world. This expectation of growth and change is
expressed, near the end of the Charter, in a short chapter entitled
"Amendments".[173] Changes in the United Nations system,
however, have come about in a variety of ways other than by amending the
Charter.
The following examines the methods by
which changes can be made in the United Nations. First, the methods employed
since 1945 are surveyed. Then, the provisions
of the Charter relating to formal amending process are examined.
A. Informal Methods Used to Date
Because the formal amending procedures of
the United Nations Charter are too rigid to allow necessary changes, and
because the political circumstances are not conducive to their use, other means
have been found to achieve desired ends.
The Charter has been subjected to changes in a variety of ways and to greater
effect than is generally believed. It
has been changed: (1) by the failure to implement or apply certain provisions;
(2) through the interpretation by various organs and members of the United
Nations; (3) through the conclusion of supplementary or supporting treaties or
agreements; and (4) through the creation of special organs and agencies.
(1) Failure
to Implement or Apply Certain Provisions
Several articles, which those who
participated in the San Francisco Conference believed were highly important in
making the United Nations an effective instrument for maintaining world peace,
have been already fallen into disuse.
This has been because organs and members of the organization have
disregarded or have failed to implement or apply them. Perhaps the best examples are those articles
relating to the military preparation of the United Nations. Article 43, which was meant to be the heart
of the collective security system provided for in the Charter and the teeth
which were put into collective security action under the United Nations, has
been disregarded. Under it members of
the United Nations are required to make available to the Security Council, in
accordance with special agreements, the armed forces, assistance and facilities
necessary for maintaining international peace and security. Unfortunately,
these agreements have never come into existence; and article 43 remains a dead
letter.
Equally dead are Articles 44, 45, 46, 47
and 48, which are related to the use of armed forces by the Security Council
and which are largely dependent on the entry into force of Article 43. Article 44 gives a say to individual member
states in all decisions of the Council concerning the employment of that
member's armed forces. Article 45 provides for immediately available air forces
for combined international enforcement action.
Articles 46 and 47 entrust the Security Council and the Military Staff
Committee with the task of planning for the application of armed forces and
employing and commanding such forces.
And Article 48 requires all members of the United Nations to carry out
the Council's actions concerning the maintenance of international peace and
security. Taken together, all these
Articles with Article 43 are the cores of the collective security system of the
United Nations, as it was envisaged at the San Francisco Conference by the drafters
of the Charter.
The same fate had fated Articles 106 of
the Charter. Under the heading “Transitional Security Arrangement”, there is
Article 106 that was meant to cover the short transitional period anticipated
before the making of the “special agreements”, which would give the United
Nations the forces necessary for its collective actions. Article 106 provides
that prior to the time
the Council is ready to begin exercising its responsibilities concerning
collective enforcement actions, the five permanent members of the Council
should consult with each other with a view to such joint action on behalf of
the Organization as might be necessary to maintain international peace and
security. In short words, this Article
gives the super powers the joint responsibility for maintaining peace and
security on a transitional basis. The
super powers, however, because of the division among them, have failed to give
effect to this transitional arrangement.
(2) Liberal
Interpretations
The Charter of the United Nations, as any
constitutional instrument, grows and takes on new meanings as the Organization
accepts challenges and meets demands and needs. The only provision in the Charter relating to its
interpretation is the one implied in Article 96. Under this Article the General
Assembly or the Security Council may request the International Court of Justice
to give an advisory opinion “on any legal question”; such opinions, however,
have no binding legal effect. This
flexibility in the Charter has led to a number of significant developments in
the United Nations.
In practice and in line with the general
understanding reached at the San Francisco Conference, the organs and member
states of the United Nations have felt free to interpret the various articles
of the Charter as they have been fit.[174] Consequently, any interpretation of any
provision of the Charter which a majority of the members may believe to be
reasonable one can prevail in any particular instance. This explains why the Charter has its liberal,
as well as its strict, constructionists.
The liberal interpretation, however, has been in ascendance much of the
time. It has been very helpful in
strengthening the General Assembly, giving more of a policy-making role to the
Secretary General and its staff, and overcoming the deadlock in admitting new
members to the United Nations.[175]
The most significant development, which
was due to a liberal interpretation of the Charter, relates to the
all-important question of voting in the Security Council. Article 27, Paragraph 3, provides
specifically that for other than procedural matters, decisions of the Council
are to be made “by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring
votes of the permanent members”. In its
early history, the Security Council took the position that an
abstention or an absence of a permanent member did not constitute a negative
vote. This liberal interpretation of Article 27, Paragraph 3, has been the
prevailing one since then. It was this
interpretation, together with the absence of the Soviet Union from the Security
Council, that made it possible for the Council to take action with respect to
the North Korean attack against South Korea in 1950. The difference between this liberal
interpretation of Article 27, Paragraph 3 and the strict one is
substantial. Under the strict
interpretation, when a permanent member abstains or is absent at the time of
the vote is taken no decisions can be reached by the Council. This is a clear
illustration of how differently the Charter may be interpreted, and how an
interpretation may make a difference.
Another illustration of how differently the Charter may be interpreted
is found in Paragraph 2 of Article 27, which provides that decisions of the
Council on procedural matters should be made by an affirmative vote of nine
members. This article does not spell out
the distinctions between the procedural and substantial matters.
At the San Francisco Conference, the five
major powers agreed on the strict interpretation of “procedural’ questions.
They agreed that procedural questions, for the most part, were those involved
with the organizational matters referred to in Articles 28 to 32 of the
Charter: the adoption of the rules of procedure of the Council; the selection
of the president of the Council; the time and place of the Council's meetings;
the establishment of subsidiary organs; the adoption of conditions for the
participation of a state that is not a member of the United Nations in the
Council's discussion; etc. Beyond this
point, these powers agreed in their Statement of June 7, 19 45, that decisions of the Council
which might have “major political consequences” should be made by the unanimous
vote of the permanent members.[176]
This narrow interpretation has not followed by the General Assembly, which has
been attempting to narrow the area within which the veto should apply. The Assembly has been inclined to define
procedural questions very broadly. In
its resolution of April
14, 19 49, the Assembly recommended to the Council that some
thirty-one decisions should be considered procedural, and that the Council
should conduct its business accordingly.[177]
Included in the list were a number of decisions that previously had been
considered substantive, such as those relating to the pacific settlement of
disputes and the admission of new members to the United Nations. Obviously, there is a substantial difference
between the strict interpretation agreed on by the major powers at the San
Francisco Conference and the liberal one urged on the Council by the Assembly. Either of these two methods of interpretation could be
applied; however, this is dependent on the members of the United Nations.
Another significant development, which was
due to the liberal interpretation of the Charter, relates to the expanding
nature of the political activities of the Secretary General. The articles of
Chapter XV relating to the role of the Secretary General leave the impression
that his political functions are to be quite limited in scope. In practice, however, both the Security
Council and the General Assembly have taken a broad view of his function. He has exercised an influential role in
various fields. He has made statements
before the Council and the Assembly on a variety of questions. He has undisputed authority to place any item
he considers necessary on the provisional agenda of both organs. He has played an effective and influential
role with respect to peaceful settlement of disputes and peace-keeping
operations; a role which those who participated in the San Francisco Conference
did not foresee.
Still another demonstration of what
interpretation can do is reflected in the sharp shift in the roles of the
Security Council and the General Assembly.
In the Charter of the United Nations, much emphasis is placed on the
primary responsibility of the Council in the field of international peace and
security. The Council is designed to be
the most powerful and influential organ of the United Nations. It is organized to be able to function continuously,
designed to have armed forces at its disposal, and empowered to make decisions
binding on all members of the international organization. The General Assembly, on the other hand, is designed for much less
important roles. It is scheduled to convene
in regular annual sessions. It was not
designed to have armed forces at its disposal.
It is only empowered to make recommendations, not decisions binding on members
of the United Nations. Its main weapons
are discussion and debate. In practice,
however, the Assembly has undergone evolutionary growth.
As the Security Council has fallen into
disuse, because of the division among its permanent members, the Assembly has
become a stronger and more important organ.
The Assembly has gradually played a much different role than was
foreseen by those drafted the United Nations Charter. Various devices, ways and means have been
employed to expand the Assembly's activities and influence in about every
field. The creation of the Interim
Committee in 1947 (and its recreation in 1949) was meant to keep the Assembly
in virtually continuous session if necessary.[178]
The adoption of the “Uniting
for Peace” Resolution in 1950 aimed to empower the Assembly to take action
against an aggressor if the Council fails to exercise its responsibility for
maintaining international peace and Security.[179]
Moreover, this resolution aimed to make available at the disposal of the
Assembly armed forces. It asks member
states of the United Nations to maintain within their national forces elements
so trained, organized and equipped that they could promptly be available for
service as United Nations units.
Today, the General Assembly can convene in
an emergency session within 24 hours. It
can make appropriate recommendations to members of the United Nations for
collective measures, including the use of armed forces. All this was made
possible only by the liberal interpretations of the Charter's provisions
relating to the functions and powers of the General Assembly.
3. Conclusion of Supplementary
or Supporting Agreements
The Charter has been subjected to changes as a result of
numerous treaties and agreements that have been concluded by various
states. Treaties and agreements have
been used as devices to define in detail the general provisions of the Charter,
to specify the rights and obligations of member states, to specify the powers
and functions of the United Nations organs, and to lay down obligations and
commitments that go beyond those contained in the Charter.
The most
important example of such developments is the establishment of regional and
security arrangements or organizations.
Article 52, Paragraph 1 of the Charter provides that nothing in it shall
preclude “the existence of regional arrangements or agencies” for dealing with
“matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security,”
provided that they are “consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the
United Nations”. Paragraph 2 of this Article requires members to seek pacific
settlement of local disputes through regional arrangements or agencies. Paragraph 3 requires the Council to encourage
such behavior. Under Article 53, the Council is required, where appropriate, to
utilize such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under
its authority.
Despite its provision for regional
arrangements, the Charter of the United Nations was primarily designed to
approach matters of collective security on a world-wide basis. Consequently,
the primary responsibility for international peace and security was vested in
the Security Council. However, because
of the failure of the Council in assuming its responsibility, members of the United Nations, in
search of an alternative, concluded numerous treaties and agreements establishing
regional arrangements or organizations, such as the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, the Warsaw Pact (ceased to exist in 1990), the Inter-America
Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization,
Organization of African Unity (became the African Union), the Arab League,
etc. By these treaties and arrangements,
the member states shifted the emphasis from universal collective security to
regional security arrangements based on the principle of self-defense as
expressed in article 51. Regional security arrangements constitute different
techniques for joint action than the one that exists under the Charter of the
United Nations.
Another important supplementary device to
the Charter is the declarations accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) under Article 36 of the Statute of the
ICJ.[180]
Although the Charter obliges members of the United Nations to settle their
disputes by peaceful means referred to in Article 33 of the Charter, it does not
impose any particular means on the disputants. By acceding to the so-called
optional clause of Article 36 of the ICJ Statute, the states agree in advance
to accept the jurisdiction of the Court with respect to legal disputes in which
they may become involved. The
declarations enlarge the competence of the ICJ by imposing on the states
obligations over and above those already embodies in the Charter.
Still there are numerous resolutions and
declarations adopted by various organs of the United Nations, and covenants and
conventions concluded by states under the auspices of the United Nations,
covering about every field which are meant to supplement or support the
Charter. These supplementary devices dealt, for example, with: status; rights
and obligations of states and other international legal persons; authority over
land, sea and space; trade and development cooperation; human rights; peaceful
settlement of international disputes; the use of force; etc. Each of these devices has played a role in
the development of provisions of the Charter.
4. Creation of Subsidiary
Organs
Articles 22 and 29 of the United Nations
Charter respectively authorize the General Assembly and the Security Council to
establish such subsidiary organs as are deemed necessary for the performance of
their respective functions. During the sixty years of the United Nations’ history hundreds of committees, commissions,
panels, special representatives, boards and agencies have been established.
These subsidiary organs have been assigned a wide variety of functions covering
all areas of the Assembly's or the Council's responsibilities.
The General Assembly has established many organs to assist
it in carrying out its responsibilities in the administrative and financial
field. Some have permanent status such as the Interim Committee, the Advisory
Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, the Committee on
Contributions, and the Board of Auditors. Some important subsidiary organs
created by the Assembly, e.g., the Collective Measures Committee and the
International Law Commission, have been assigned to undertake studies of a
general character. Many operating agencies, e.g., the Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the High Commission for Human
Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs (OCHA), and the
Development Programme (UNDP), have been established to administer a variety of
relief, rehabilitation, and assistance programs in the field.
In the field of peace and security, the
General Assembly has created many organs entrusted with a wide variety of
functions. Some of a permanent nature,
e.g., the Peace Observation Commission, and the Panel for Inquiry and
Conciliation, have been created to serve where they might be needed. Many ad hoc organs have been created, from
time to time, to deal with particular situations. Many have been entrusted with
investigatory functions. Others have been assigned to observe particular situations.
A number of subsidiary organs have been assigned with functions of mediation,
conciliation and good offices. In addition, there have been military forces
created by the Assembly as its subsidiary organs for peace-keeping purposes.
To assist it in performing its
responsibilities, the Security Council has established its own subsidiary
organs. It has created standing
commissions or committees of a permanent nature, e.g., the Committee on the
Admission of New Members, to assist it in particular aspects of its work or to
deal with certain recurring matters. It has established organs to deal with
particular questions or situations for the task of investigation, observation,
mediation, and assisting in the implementation of its resolutions or
peace-keeping operations.
The importance of the subsidiary organs
created by the Assembly and the Council rests in the fact that without the
assistance provided by them main organs of the United Nations could not
effectively discharge their responsibilities under the Charter. The establishment of such organs does not
amend the Charter in any substantive way, but it does constitute an important
feature of the developing United Nations system under the Charter.
B. Formal Methods Available Under the
Charter
Two different methods of amending the
Charter of the United Nations were agreed upon at the San Francisco Conference
of 1945. The first is the ordinary procedure of amendment set forth in Article
108. The second is the comprehensive
review by a general conference provided in Article 109.
1. Ordinary Amending Process
Article 108 of the Charter outlines a
two-step process that is to be followed for the ordinary amending process of
the United Nations Charter: (a) an adoption of the proposal by a two-thirds
vote of the General Assembly; and (b) a ratification by two-thirds of the
members of the United Nations, including all the permanent members of the
Security Council. In connection with these two steps, three points should be
noted. First, a proposed amendment may
be adopted by the Assembly without any concurring action by the Council. The will of the majority of two-thirds of the
members prevails. No single state,
whether small or super, can prevent an amendment from being adopted. Second, Article 108 reiterates the principle
of permanent members' unanimity. It
requires that amendments must be ratified by all the five permanent members of
the Council. This means that no
amendment can become effective if it is opposed by any permanent member. Any one of the permanent members can prevent
the entry into force of any amendment even if it is ratified by all other
members of the United Nations. Third,
after being ratified by the two-thirds of the members of the United Nations,
including all the five permanent members on the Council, an amendment would
become effective with respect to all members, even those that voted against it
in the Assembly or failed to ratify it.
The dissatisfied member has only one remedy, that is, to withdraw from
the Organization.
Until 1963, none of the profound changes
in the United Nations system which took place were brought about through the
formal amendment process of the Charter. Formal amendments, however, were
proposed on various occasion. During the
first few sessions of the Assembly, a few proposals were made to amend the
Charter. One of these was a proposal introduced in 1946, to amend Article 27,
Paragraph 3, in order to curtail the use of the veto, but it was withdrawn for
lack of support.[181] In 1956, following the great influx of new
members, further proposals to amend the Charter were brought up in the
Assembly. The most significant were the
proposals: to amend Article 61 in order to enlarge the Economic and Social
Council; and to amend Article 23 in order to increase the number of the
nonpermanent members on the Security
Council, and correspondingly to amend Article 27 in order to increase the
number of affirmative votes needed for a decision by the Council to be adopted.[182] The Cold War atmosphere prevented amendments
to the Charter from getting the support of all the five permanent members; of
course, no amendment could come into effect without ratification by all of
them.
The
pressure to pass amendments to the Charter continued over the years until 1963
when an agreement was reached for this end.
At its eighteenth session, the Assembly adopted amendments to raise the
number of the members of the Economic and Social Council to 27, and to expand
the size of the Security Council to 15, with a corresponding amendment to
Article 27 to require 9 affirmative votes for the adoption of the Security
Council's decisions.[183] These amendments entered into force on August
1965 when the members of the United Nations, including the 5 permanent members
on the Council, ratified them in accordance with their constitutional
processes.
When
Articles 23 and 27 were amended, the requirement of seven votes for calling a
conference to review the Charter in Article 109, Paragraph 1, was not
changed. The Assembly in 1965 adopted an
amendment of this Paragraph to conform to the new requirement of Article 27.
2. General Conference for the Charter's Review
Article 109
outlines a three-step process to be followed in case of review of the Charter
by a general conference of the members of the United Nations: (a) a call for
holding a conference by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General
Assembly and a concurring vote of nine members of the Security Council; (b) an
adoption of the alteration to the Charter by a two-thirds vote of the
conference; and (c) a ratification of such alteration by two thirds of the
members of the United Nations, including all five permanent members of the
Security Council, in accordance with their constitutional process. In connection with these steps, four points
should be noted. First, the review of
the Charter as a whole is not the business of the General Assembly, but of a
“General Conference” of all members of the United Nations. It is a kind of constituent assembly which
may be called to continue the work of the San Francisco Conference.[184] Second, a reviewing conference could be
called for at any time. Third, none of
the permanent members of the Council, or all of them together, by their
negative vote can prevent the calling
of a general conference. Fourth, each of
the permanent members, however, can prevent the entry into force of any
alteration to the Charter by failing to ratify it.
It seems
that, as far as amendments of the Charter are concerned, there is no difference
between Articles 108 and 109. Any
amendment must be approved by a two-thirds vote of either the General Assembly
or the General Conference. Moreover,
even if “alterations” (under Article 109) or “amendments” (under Article 108)
to the Charter are approved, they would come into force only if ratified by
two-thirds of the members of the United Nations, including all five of the
permanent members of the Security Council.
Paragraph 3
of Article 109 outlines an additional specific one-time procedure for reviewing
the Charter. It provides that if a conference
has not been held before the tenth session of the Assembly, “the proposal to
call for such a conference shall be placed on the agenda of that session” and
“the conference shall be held if so decided by a majority vote of the members
of the General Assembly and by a vote of any seven members of the Security
Council.” This provision is no longer
applicable since the tenth session of the Assembly has passed and the only
decision possible under it has been taken.[185]
The
decision to include a specific provision for a general conference to review the
Charter was a product of a compromise between the position of the major powers
and that of those who were dissatisfied with certain provisions of the Charter,
especially, those of Articles 27 and 108.
Its objective was to assure the dissatisfied states that there would be
an opportunity for reviewing the Charter at some future time.
During the
first three sessions of the General Assembly, proposals for the calling of a
general conference to review the Charter were introduced.[186] None, however, was adopted because of the
opposition of many members who argued that the time had not yet come to convene
such a conference, and that because of the division among the major powers it
was unwise to discuss amendments of the Charter.
Because no
conference to review the Charter was held prior to the tenth session of the
General Assembly, the proposal to call such a conference was automatically
placed on the agenda of the tenth session as required by Paragraph 3 of Article
109. The debate at that session revealed
little enthusiasm and much reluctance by many members of the United Nations for
calling such a conference.[187] The General Assembly adopted a resolution
expressing the view that it would be “desirable to review the Charter in the
light of experience gained in its operations”, but that such a review “should
be conducted under auspicious international circumstances.”[188]
In this resolution, the Assembly did not fix the time or the place for the
conference. However, a committee was
established to consider the matters in consultation with the Secretary
General. To this resolution, the
Security Council gave its concurrence.[189]
At its tenth session, the General Assembly
did not call for holding a conference to review the Charter as required by
Paragraph 3 of Article 109. This could be understandable since this Paragraph
did not guarantee that a conference would be held. The Assembly was under no obligation to call
a conference, but merely to place the matter on the agenda of its tenth
session.[190]
Both Articles 108 and 109 provide far too
rigid procedure for amendment of the United Nations’ Charter. The process is just as long and just as
difficult under any of these two Articles.
This explains why during the sixty-year history of the United Nations no
substantial changes in the Organization have taken place through the formal
amending processes provided in the Charter.
Profound changes in the United Nations system have been accomplished
only through informal methods.
[1] For the
materials on the United Nations, see generally, the UN web site at
//www.un.org/; United Nations, BASIC FACTS About the United Nations,
U.N., New York, 2004 [Hereinafter is cited as UN Basic Facts]; Bowett’s
Law of International Institutions, P. Sands and P. Klein eds., 5th
edn, London (2001), chapter 2; L.M. Goodrich, E. Hambro and A.P. Simons, Charter
of the United Nations, 3rd edn, New York (1969); E. Luard, 1 A
History of the United Nations, London (1982); L.B. Sohn, Cases on the
United Nations Law, 2nd edn, Brooklyn (1967); O. Schachter and
C.C. Joyner (eds.) United Nations Legal Order, 2 vols., Cambridge (1995)
[2] See
generally, E. Luard, 1 A History of the United Nations, London
[3] See
the collected works of this Conference in UNCIO, 15 vols., New York
[4] See
G.L. Goodwin, “World Institutions and World Order”, in The New International
Actors, pp. 55-64, C. Cosgrove & K. Twitchett eds., London (1970).
[5] Quoted
in Goodwin, id. at 57.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] See
Dag Hammarskjöld, the introduction to The Annual Report of the United Nations
Secretary General, 16 U.N. GAOR, Supp. 1A, U.N Doc. A/4800/Add.1 (1961).
[15] Id.
[16] See
Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations Case,
1949 I.C.J. 174.
[17] See
G. Clark, Introduction to World Peace through World Law, Peace is possible:
A Reader on World Order, 108-33, Cambridge
[18] See
generally N. Hill, International Organization, (1952); and D. Mitrany, “The Functional
Approach to World Organization”, in The New International Actors, C.
Cosgrove & K. Twitchett eds., London (1970).
[19] This
view was introduced by H. Kissinger in a speech entitled” The Global Challenge
and International Cooperation,” delivered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 14,
1975. Quoted in M. Zacher, International
Conflicts and Collective Security, 1946-1977, at 4, New York (1979).
[20] See
supra chapter one para. III.
[21] UN Charter
art. 104. Text of the UN Charter is found on the UN web site at /www.un.org/.
[22] Id
art. 105(1).
[23] Id.
[24] See
L.M. Goodrich, From League of Nations to
the United Nations, 1 International Organization (Feb. 1947), 3-21.
[25] See
UN Charter arts 2 & 55.
[26] See
id. art.1.
[27] See
id. art. 2.
[28] Id.
[29] Id.
[30] Id.
[31] Id.
[32] Id.
[33] The United
States
[34] See
generally, UN Charter chapter IV, the UN web site at //www.un.org/; S.
Bailey, The General Assembly of the United Nations, London
[35] UN
Charter art. 9.
[36] Id.
[37] Id.
[38] Id.
[39] See
id. arts. 10-16, 23, 61, 85 & 97.
[40] G.A.
Res. 337 A of November 3, 1950, 5 U.N. SCOR Supp. (No. 20) at 10, U.N. Doc.
A/1775 (1950).
[41] See
UN Charter art. 20; the Rules of Procedures of the General Assembly, A/520/Rev.
7, 20 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 14) at 88, U.N. Doc. A/6014 (1965); and the “Uniting
for Peace” Resolution para. A(1).
[42] See
generally, UN Charter chapter V, the UN web site at //www.un.org at //; S.
Bailey, The Procedure of the Security Council, 2nd edn, Oxford (1988); and
S. Bailey and S. Daws, The Procedure of the UN Security Council, Oxford
[43] See
generally, S. Bailey, Voting in the Security Council, Oxford
[44] UN
Charter art. 23.
[45] Id.
[46] Id.
[47] Id.
[48] All
five permanent members have exercised the right of veto at one time or another.
[49] UN
Charter art. 25.
[50] See
id. chapters VI, VII, VIII & XII.
[51] See
UN Charter arts. 23-32; and the Provisional Rules of Procedures of the Security
Council U.N Doc. S/96/Rev. 4. (1950).
[52] Under
Article 35 of the U.N. Charter (in case of a dispute or situation the
continuous of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international
peace and security).
[53] Under
Article 35 (2) & (3) of the UN Charter
[54] Under
Article 99 of the UN Charter.
[55] UN
Charter art. 31.
[56] Id.
[57] See
generally, UN Charter chapter X; and the UN web site at //www.un.org/.
[58] Id.
[59] Id.
[60] Id.
[61] See
id. arts. 62-66 & 71.
[62] See
id. art. 72; and the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council,
U.N. Doc. E/3063/Rev.1 (1966).
[63] The
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is located in Beirut , Lebanon
[64] UN
Charter art. 71.
[65] See UN
Charter chapter XIII; and the UN web
site at //www.un.org/.
[66] See UN
Charter chapter XII.
[67] See
generally, UN Charter chapter XIV; ICJ Statute (Text of the ICJ Statute is
found on the UN web site); and the ICJ web site at //www.icj-cij.org/.
[68] UN
Charter art. 92; and ICJ Statute art. 1.
.
[69] UN
Charter art. 92
[70] Id.
[71] Id.
[72] See
ICJ Statute chapters II & III.
[73] Id.
[74] See
id. chapter IV; and UN Charter art. 96.
[75] ICJ Statute
art. 36(1).
[76] See
id.. arts. 36.
[77] Id
art.36(6).
[78] Id.
[79] Id.
[80] UN
Charter art. 94(1).
[81] Id.
[82] See
ICJ Statute chapter I.
[83] See
generally, UN Charter chapter XV; and the UN web site at //www.un.org/.
[84] See
UN Charter arts. 100 & 105(2).
[85] Under
the Charter, the official languages of the United Nations are Chinese, English,
French, Russian and Spanish (UN Charter art. 111). Arabic has been added as an
official language of the General assembly, the Security Council and the Economic
and Social Council.
[86] U.N.
Charter art. 97.
[87] Id
and art. 101.
[88] Id.
[89] Id
art. 98.
[90] See
generally, Mohammad Walid Abdulrahim ,
The United Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security,
Saida-Beirut (1994) [In Arabic]; L. Goodrich & A. Simons, The United
Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, New York
(1955); and United Nations, Basic Facts about the United Nations,
chapter 2, UN, New York (2004) [Hereinafter cited as UN Basic Facts].
[91]
D. Mitrany, “The Functional Approach to World Organization”, in The New
International Actors, p. 131, C. Cosgrove & K. Twitchett eds., London
[92]See
generally, Abdulrahim, The United Nations and the Maintenance of
International Peace and Security, part one; J. Collier and V. Lowe, The
Settlement of Disputes in International Law, Cambridge (1999); J.G.
Merrills, International Dispute Settlement, 3rd edn,
Cambridge (1998); K.V. Raman, Dispute settlement Through the UN, Dobbs
Ferry (1997); M.N. Shaw, International Law, pp. 1099-1118, 5th
edn, Cambridge (2003); United Nations, Handbook on the Peaceful settlement
of Disputes Between States, UN, New York (1992).; and UN Basic Facts, chapter 2.
[93] For a
discussion on the means of peaceful settlement of disputes, see Mohammad
Walid Abdulrahim , Introduction to
Public International Law, chapter 14, Beirut
[94]
N. Hill, International Organization, 299, New York (1952).
[95] UN
Charter art. 33(2).
[96] Id.
[97] Id.
[98] Id.
art. 99.
[99] Id.
[100]
Id.
[101] Id.
[102] Id.
[103]
Id.
[104] Id.
[105] Id.
[106] Id.
[107]
Id.
[108] Id.
[109] Id.
[110]
“Peacemaking” refers to the use of diplomatic means to persuade parties in
conflict to cease hostilities and to negotiate a peaceful settlement of their
dispute.
[111] See
UN Basic Facts, chapter 2.
[112]
Probably the most famous Security Council’s resolution recommending terms of
settlement is the Resolution 242 (1967) dealing with the Middle
East .
[113]
The General Assembly adopted this resolution on November 3, 1950, G.A. Res.
377(a) (V), 5 GAOR, Supp. 20, U.N. Doc. A/1775, at 10 (1950).
[114]
See generally, UN Basic Facts, chapter 2; Abdulrahim, The United
Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, chapter 5;
Malanczuk, pp. 387-430; and Shaw, 1119-1151.
[115] Cf.
Shaw, p. 1120.
[116]
The use of force by authorization of the
Security Council, and upon a
recommendation of the General Assembly constitute two exceptions to the
principle of the prohibition of the use of force provided in Article 2(4) of
the Charter of the United Nations. On
this subject, see Abdulrahim, Introduction to Public International
Law, pp. 180-183.
[117]
UN Charter arts. 46 and 47(1) & (2).
[118] Id.
[119]
Id art.45.
[120] Id.
[121]
Id.
[122] See
generally, UN Basic Facts, chapter 2.
[123] The Ongoing
UN Peace-keeping operations as of June
2007 are:
UNTSO United
Nations Truce Supervision Organization May 1948 present
UNMOGIP United
Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan January 1949
present
UNFICYP United
Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus March 1964 present
UNDOF United
Nations Disengagement Force June 1974 present
UNIFIL United
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon March 1978 present
MINURSO United
Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
April 1991 present
UNOMIG United
Nations Observer Mission in Georgia August 1993 present
UNMIK UN Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo June 1999 present
MONUC UN
Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
UNMEE United
Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea July 2000 present
UNMIL United
Nations Mission in Liberia September 2003 present
UNOCI United
Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire
MINUSTAH United
Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti June 2004 present
UNMIS United
Nations Mission in the Sudan March 2005 present
UNMIT
United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste August 2006 present
[124] See
generally, UN Basic Facts, chapter 2; Abdulrahim, The United
Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, chapter 6;
and Shaw, 1151-1154.
[125]
Uniting for Peace Resolution section A.
[126]
Id.
[127] Id.
[128] Cf
id. the preamble.
[129]
G.A. Res. 498 (V) of 1 February 1951, 5 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 20 A) at 1, U.N.
Doc A/1775/Add. 1 (1951).
[130]
G.A. Res. 500 (V) of 18 May 1951, id. at 2.
[131]
G.A. Res. 997 (ES-I) of 2 November 1956, U.N. GAOR ES-I Supp.(No. 1) at 2, U.N.
Doc. A/3354 (1956).
[132]
G.A. Res. 1000 (ES-I) of 5 November 1956, id. at 2.
[133]
S.C. Res. 500 (1982), 37 U.N. SCOR Res. & Decs. (1982) at 2, U.N. Doc.
S/INF/37 (1982). Note that the S.C. adopted a resolution in December 1981,
after the annexation of the Golan Heights by Israel ,
calling on Israel U.S.
to adopt a draft resolution introduced by Jordan
calling on all members of the United Nations to consider sanctions against Israel
[134]
G.A. Res. 1 (ES-IX) of 5 February 1982.
[135]
Goodrich & Simons, at 445.
[136]
See generally, Abdulrahim, The United Nations and the Maintenance of
International Peace and Security, chapter 7; D.W. Bowett, UN Forces,
London (1964); R. Higgins, United Nations
Peacekeeping, 4 vols., Oxford
[137] UN
Peace-keeping operations (1948 – 2007)
UNTSO United
Nations Truce Supervision Organization May 1948 present
UNMOGIP United
Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan January 1949 present
UNEF I First United
Nations Emergency Force November 1956 June 1967
UNOGIL United
Nations Observation Group in Lebanon
ONUC United
Nations Operation in the Congo
UNSF United
Nations Security Force in West New Guinea October 1962
April 1963
UNYOM United
Nations Yemen Observation Mission
UNFICYP United
Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus March 1964 present
DOMREP Mission of the Representative of the SG in
the Dominican Republic
UNIPOM United Nations
India-Pakistan Observation Mission
UNEF II Second United
Nations Emergency Force October 1973 July 1979
UNDOF United
Nations Disengagement Force June 1974 present
UNIFIL United
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon March 1978 present
UNGOMAP United
Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan
UNIIMOG United
Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group August 1988 February 1991
UNAVEM I United
Nations Angola
UNTAG United
Nations Transition Assistance Group April 1989 March 1990
ONUCA United
Nations Observer Group in Central America November 1989
January 1992
UNIKOM United
Nations Iraq - Kuwait Observation Mission
MINURSO United
Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
April 1991 present
UNAVEM II United
Nations Angola Verification Mission II June 1991 February 1995
ONUSAL United
Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador
UNAMIC United
Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia
UNPROFOR United
Nations Protection Force February 1992 December 1995
UNTAC United
Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
UNOSOM I United
Nations Operation in Somalia
ONUMOZ United
Nations Operation in Mozambique
UNOSOM II United
Nations Operation in Somalia
UNOMUR United
Nations Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda June 1993
September 1994
UNOMIG United
Nations Observer Mission in Georgia August 1993 present
UNOMIL United
Nations Observer Mission in Liberia
UNMIH United
Nations Mission in Haiti
UNAMIR United
Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
UNASOG United
Nations Aouzou Strip Observer Group May 1994 June 1994
UNMOT United
Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan
UNAVEM III United
Nations Angola Verification Mission III February 1995 June 1997
UNCRO United
Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia
UNPREDEP United
Nations Preventive Deployment Force March 1995 February 1999
UNMIBH United
Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
UNTAES United
Nations transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium
January 1996
January 1998
UNMOP United
Nations Mission
UNSMIH United
Nations Support Mission in Haiti
MINUGUA United Nations
Verification Mission in Guatemala
MONUA United
Nations Observer Mission in Angola
UNTMIH United
Nations Transition Mission in Haiti
MINOPUH UN Civilian
Police Mission in Haiti
MINURCA United
Nations Mission in the Central African Republic
UNOMSIL United
Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone
UNMIK UN Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo June 1999 present
UNAMSIL United
Nations Mission in Sierra Leone
UNTAET United
Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor
October 1999 May 2002
MONUC UN
Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
UNMEE United
Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea July 2000 present
UNMISET United
Nations Mission of Support in East
Timor May 2002 May 2005
UNMIL United
Nations Mission in Liberia September 2003 present
UNOCI United
Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire
MINUSTAH United
Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti June 2004 present
ONUB United
Nations Operation in Burundi
UNMIS United
Nations Mission in the Sudan March 2005 present
UNMIT United Nations
Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste August 2006 present
[138]
The UN force which was established in Korea
[139] The United Nations
electoral assistance has become a regular and increasingly important feature in
United Nations peace operations. In 2005
and 2006, UN peace-keeping forces
supported elections in six post-conflict countries – Afghanistan, Burundi,
Haiti, Iraq, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo-with populations
totaling over 120 million.
[140]This
was the case of Unified Command in Korea (1950-1953).
[141] See
Abdulrahim, The United Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace
and Security, pp. 154-162.
[142]
The smallest peace-keeping force is UNMOGIP (1949-) between India and Pakistan Yugoslavia Korea South Lebanon consists of as of 30 April 2007 of: troops 13,251; international civilian 202, local civilian
308.
Personnel
of Ongoing United Nations Peacekeeping Operations as of April 30, 2007
| <><><><>
|
Uniformed
personnel
Including 70,804 troops; 9,523 police and 2,544 military observers | <><><><>
82,871
| <><><><>
Countries
contributing uniformed personnel
| <><><><>
115
| <><><><>
International
civilian personnel
| <><><><>
4,705
| <><><><>
Local civilian
personnel
| <><><><>
10,658
| <><><><>
UN Volunteers
| <><><><>
2,017
| <><><><>
Total number of
personnel serving in 15 peacekeeping operations
| <><><><>
100,251
| <><><><>
Total number of
fatalities in peace operations since 1948
| <><><><>
2,355
| <><><><>
[143]
See generally, 3 R. Higgins, United Nations Peacekeeping, pp.
125-210, Oxford
[144] See
UN Charter art. 1.
[145] See
generally, UN Basic Facts, chapter 3.
[146] See
generally, id. chapter 5.
[147] In the last decade, civil wars have become a central
cause of emergency situations; millions were uprooted from their homes by war.
Natural disasters — floods, droughts, storms and earthquakes — killed many
persons and caused great economic losses.
[148] In
2000 alone, millions were uprooted from their homes by war.
[149] In 2000 alone, natural disasters — floods, droughts,
storms and earthquakes — killed more than 50,000 people and caused economic
losses exceeding $90 billion in 1998. More than 90 per cent of all disaster
victims live in developing countries.
[150]
In 2000 alone, the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs launched 16 inter-agency
appeals that raised more than $1.4 billion to assist 35 million people in 16
countries and regions. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees provides
international protection and assistance to over 22 million refugees and
displaced persons. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East (UNRWA) provides education, health, and relief and social
services to 3.8 million registered Palestine
[151] See
generally, UN Basic Facts, chapter 4.
[152] Statement
by former US Secretary of State Cordell Hull on the Occasion of the Signing of
the Charter, June 26, 1945, 13 Dept. of State Bulletin, 13, Washington DC
(1945).
[153] See
UN Charter arts. 23, 27, 61 & 109.
[154]
2 Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, Building Peace, 693
(1973).
[155] More
than 80 nations whose peoples were under colonial rule have joined the United
Nations as sovereign independent states since the UN was founded in 1945.
[156] For a detailed discussion, see R.
Emerson, The United Nations and
Colonialism, in The Evolving United
Nations: A Prospect for Peace, 83-99, K. Twitchett (ed.), London
[157]See G.A. Res. 1514 (XV), 15 GAOR Supp.
(No. 16) at 66, U.N. Doc. A/4684
(1960). For a discussion of this resolution and the uses made of it, see Kay, The Politics of Decolonialization: The New
Nations and the United Nations Political Process, 21 Int'1 Org., 786 (Autumn 1967);
and Emerson, pp. 2, 90-92.
[158]
See L.M. Goodrich, The United Nations in a Changing World, 48, Oxford
[159]
See T.M. Frank, Nations Against Nations, 247, Oxford
[160] Id.
[161] See
M. Moskowitz, The Roots and Reaches of
the United Actions and Decisions, 18, The Netherlands (1980).
[162] See id. p. 26.
[163] See Goodrich, The United Nations in a Changing World,
pp. 112-113.
[164] Id.
[165] Article
43 stipulates:
1. All
members of the United Nations, in order to contribute to the maintenance of
international peace and security, undertake to make available to the Security
Council, on its call and in accordance with a special agreement or agreements,
armed forces, assistance, and facilities, including rights of passage,
necessary for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.
2. Such agreement or agreements shall govern the numbers and types of
forces, their degree of readiness and general location; and the nature of the
facilities and assistance to be provided.
3. The
agreement and agreements shall be negotiated as soon as possible on the
initiative of the Security Council. They shall be concluded between the
security Council. and Members or between the Security Council and groups of
Members and shall be subject to ratification by signatory states in accordance
with their respective constitutional processes
[166] See Goodrich, The United Nations in a Changing World, pp. 114-115.
[167] G.A. Res. 377 (V), 5
U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 20) at 10, U.N.
Doc. A/1775 (1950).
[168] It should be noted that
this right granted to the Assembly was not intended to be substitute for the
Council's responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and
security, but rather a supplement. This is why the preamble to the resolution
reaffirms “the importance of the exercise the Security Council of its primary
responsibility” and “the duty of the permanent members to seek unanimity and to
exercise restraint in the use of the veto”. Also, this is why the resolution in Section A of
the Resolution requires the Assembly to exercise its primary responsibility and
only in cases where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of peace,
or act of aggression.
[169] See L. Goodrich, E. Hambro & A. Simons, Charter of the United Nations,
124-25, 3rd & rev. edn., New York
[170] See
1 Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, p. 266.
[171] “Détente” is a French word, literally means a relaxation of
tension. It has been used as a short-hand for a complex process of adjustment
between the East and the West since the early seventies. The policy of detente
encompassed a continuing dialogue between the United
States of America and the Soviet
Union in the. areas of arms control, trade, scientific and
technical exchange and crisis management. The essence of the policy was the
coexistence relationship between the two powers. See generally, U.S. Dep't of State, The Meaning of Détente,
Washington D.C (1974).
[172]
Goodrich, The United Nations in a Changing
World, p. 117.
[173]
UN Charter chapter XVIII (arts. 108 & 109).
[174] See F.
Wilcox & C. Marcy, Proposals for Changes in the United Nations, 12,
Westport (1955)
[175] See 1 Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, 266 (1973).
[176] Doc. 852, III
[177] See
G.A. Res. 267 (III), U.N. Doc. A/900, at 7 (1949).
[178] See G.A. Res. 111 (II), U.N. Doe. A/519, at 15
(1947); and G.A. Res. 295 (IV), U.N. Doc. A/1251, at 17 (1949). .
[179] See G.A. Res. 377 (V), 5 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 20) at
10, U.N. Doc. A/1775
(1950).
[180]
Paragraph 2 of Article 36 of the Statute of the ICJ stipulates: “The States
parties to the present Statute may at any time declare that they recognize on
compulsory ipso facto and without special agreement, in relation to any
other state accepting the same obligation, the jurisdiction of the Court in all
disputes…”
[181] See 1
U.N.
GAOR 2nd Pt. C. 1, Annex
7a, at 323-24, U.N. Doc. A/C.1/34 (1946)
[182] See 11 U.N. GAOR Annex (Agenda Items 56, 57
& 58) at 1-5 & U.N. Docs. A/3138, A/3140, A/3446, A/3468/Rev. l
& A/L.217/Rev.l (1956).
[183] See G.A. Res. 1991 (XVIII), 8 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 15)
at 21, U.N. Doc. A/5515
(1963).
[184]
See A. Martin and J.B. Edwards, The Changing Charter, p.12 (1955).
[185] See
G.A. Res. 992 (X), 10 U.N. GAOR Supp. (NO. 19) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/3116 (1955).
[186] See 1 U.N. GAOR C.1 2nd Pt. Annex 7b at 324
& 326, U.N. Doc.
A/C.1/49/Rev. l (1946); and 3 U.N. GAOR Ad. Hoc. Pol. C. Annex (Agenda Item 17) at 13-14, U.N. Doc. A/A.C.24/31
(1948).
[187]
For the debate, see 10 U.N. GAOR (542nd – 547th plen.
mtgs.) at 296-370, U.N. Docs A/P.V.542-547 (1955).
[188]
G.A. Res. 992 (X0, at 49.
[189]
See 10 U.N. SCOR (707th mtg.) at 30-31, U.N. Doc. S/P.V.707
(1955).
[190] See
Goodrich, Hambro & Simon, pp. 644-456.
