United Nations Organs

• Signed 26 June 1945 at San Francisco; in force 24 October 1945 (UN Day). Original members: 51; present membership: 193 (South Sudan, 2011, the latest). Palestine and the Holy See are non-member observer States. Headquarters: New York.

• Official languages (6): Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish. Working languages: English and French (Secretariat).

• Art 1 – Purposes: maintain international peace and security; develop friendly relations based on equal rights and self-determination; international cooperation in economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems; be a centre for harmonising actions.

• Art 2 – Principles: sovereign equality (2(1)); good faith (2(2)); peaceful settlement (2(3)); prohibition of threat or use of force (2(4)); assistance to UN (2(5)); non-Members to act in accordance with principles (2(6)); non-intervention in domestic jurisdiction (2(7)) – not applicable to Chapter VII enforcement measures.

• Membership (Arts 3–6): Art 4 – open to peace-loving States accepting the obligations; admission by GA on SC recommendation (Competence of the General Assembly for Admission AO, 1950). Art 5 – suspension; Art 6 – expulsion (never used).

• Art 7 – Six principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, ECOSOC, Trusteeship Council, ICJ, Secretariat.

• Art 103: obligations under the Charter prevail over obligations under any other international agreement (cf. Lockerbie, 1992). Amendment: Art 108 (two-thirds of GA and ratification by two-thirds of Members including all P5); Art 109 (review conference).

• All Members, one vote each; the ‘town meeting of the world’. Regular session begins on the Tuesday of the third week of September. Six Main Committees (First – disarmament/international security; Second – economic and financial; Third – social, humanitarian and cultural; Fourth – special political and decolonisation; Fifth – administrative and budgetary; Sixth – legal).

• Art 10: may discuss any matter within the Charter and make recommendations. Art 11: peace and security – general principles, may call attention of SC. Art 12: GA shall not make recommendations on a dispute while the SC is exercising its functions (unless the SC so requests). Art 13: study and recommendations to promote international law development and codification (ILC, established 1947; 34 members, five-year terms; Geneva). Art 14: peaceful adjustment of situations. Art 17: budget; apportionment of expenses (Certain Expenses AO, 1962 – peacekeeping costs are ‘expenses of the Organization’). Art 19: loss of vote if arrears equal or exceed contributions due for the preceding two full years. Art 22: subsidiary organs.

• Voting (Art 18): important questions (peace and security recommendations, election of members of organs, admission, suspension/expulsion, budget) need two-thirds of members present and voting; other questions need a simple majority. Abstention is not counted as a vote.

• Uniting for Peace Resolution (377(V), 1950): if the SC fails due to veto, the GA can meet in emergency special session within 24 hours and recommend collective measures. Used for Korea (1950), Suez (1956), Afghanistan (1980), Ukraine (2022). Veto initiative: GA Res 76/262 (April 2022) – the GA meets within 10 working days after a veto.

• GA resolutions are generally non-binding, except on internal matters (budget, admission, etc.). Chair/President: elected for each session (80th session: Annalena Baerbock, 2025–26).

• Composition (Art 23): 15 members – 5 permanent (P5: China, France, Russia, UK, USA) and 10 non-permanent elected by the GA for two-year terms (two-thirds majority; not eligible for immediate re-election). Increased from 11 to 15 by the 1963 amendment (in force 1965). Regional distribution of 10: Africa 3, Asia-Pacific 2, Latin America and Caribbean 2, Western Europe and Others 2, Eastern Europe 1. Members for 2026: Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, Somalia (terms ending 2026) and Bahrain, Colombia, DR Congo, Latvia, Liberia (elected for 2026–27). Presidency rotates monthly in English alphabetical order.

• Functions: Art 24 – primary responsibility for maintenance of peace and security; Art 25 – Members agree to accept and carry out SC decisions (Namibia AO, 1971 – Art 25 applies to all binding decisions, not only Chapter VII).

• Voting (Art 27): each member has one vote. Procedural matters – affirmative vote of nine members. All other matters – nine votes including the concurring votes of the permanent members (veto). Abstention is not treated as a veto (practice endorsed in Namibia AO). Art 27(3): a party to a dispute shall abstain in decisions under Chapter VI and Art 52(3).

• Chapter VI (Arts 33–38) – Pacific Settlement: Art 33 – negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies, or other peaceful means; Art 34 – investigation; Art 36 – recommending procedures (legal disputes should generally be referred to the ICJ – Art 36(3)); Art 37 – referral; Art 38 – recommendation at request of all parties.

• Chapter VII (Arts 39–51) – Enforcement: Art 39 – determines existence of threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression; Art 40 – provisional measures; Art 41 – non-military measures (sanctions, severance of relations, interruption of communications); Art 42 – military action; Art 43 – special agreements for troops (never concluded); Art 47 – Military Staff Committee; Art 51 – inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs, until the SC takes necessary measures; must be reported to the SC; requirements of necessity and proportionality (Caroline test; Nicaragua, Oil Platforms, DRC v Uganda).

• Chapter VIII (Arts 52–54): regional arrangements – enforcement action by regional agencies requires SC authorisation (Art 53).

• Practice: ad hoc tribunals ICTY (Res 827, 1993) and ICTR (Res 955, 1994) under Chapter VII; peacekeeping (not expressly in the Charter – ‘Chapter VI½’; first observer mission UNTSO 1948; first armed force UNEF I 1956); Libya intervention (Res 1973, 2011) – Responsibility to Protect (World Summit 2005); counter-terrorism Res 1373 (2001).

• Reform debate: G4 (Brazil, Germany, India, Japan) vs Uniting for Consensus (‘Coffee Club’); African Common Position (Ezulwini Consensus) demands two permanent seats with veto; IGN (Intergovernmental Negotiations). India has served as a non-permanent member eight times (latest 2021–22).

• 54 members elected by the GA for three-year terms (one-third retire annually); originally 18, enlarged to 27 (1965) and 54 (1973). Art 62 – studies, reports, recommendations; Art 63 – coordinates specialised agencies through agreements; Art 71 – consultation with NGOs (consultative status).

• Functional commissions (Statistical, Population, Social Development, Status of Women, Narcotic Drugs, Crime Prevention, etc.) and regional commissions. The Commission on Human Rights was replaced in 2006 by the Human Rights Council (GA Res 60/251) – 47 members, subsidiary body of the GA, Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

• Specialised agencies (Art 57): ILO (1919, Geneva), FAO (Rome), UNESCO (Paris), WHO (Geneva, 1948), World Bank/IBRD, IMF, ICAO (Montreal), IMO (London), ITU, UPU, WMO, WIPO, UNIDO, IFAD, UNWTO. WTO and IAEA are related organisations, not specialised agencies.

Supervised the International Trusteeship System. Suspended operations on 1 November 1994 after the independence of Palau (the last Trust Territory). Chapter XI (Art 73) deals with Non-Self-Governing Territories (declaration regarding NSGTs; Special Committee on Decolonisation – ‘Committee of 24’). GA Res 1514 (XV), 1960 – Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

• Seat: Peace Palace, The Hague. Successor to the PCIJ (1922–1946). The only principal organ not located in New York.

• Composition: 15 judges, no two of the same nationality (Art 3); elected for 9-year terms by the GA and SC concurrently (absolute majority in each – no veto in SC); one-third retire every three years (triennial elections); President and Vice-President for 3 years; quorum 9 (Art 25). Judges ad hoc (Art 31) – a party without a national judge may appoint one. President: Iwasawa Yuji (since March 2025); the next regular election (five seats) falls in autumn 2026 – terms of five judges, including Dalveer Bhandari of India, expire in February 2027 (verify result).

• Contentious jurisdiction (Art 34, 36): only States may be parties. Bases: special agreement (compromis); compromissory clauses in treaties (Art 36(1)); Optional Clause (Art 36(2) – compulsory jurisdiction among declarants, subject to reciprocity); forum prorogatum. Art 36(6): the Court decides on its own jurisdiction (Kompetenz-Kompetenz). India has an Optional Clause declaration (current 2019) with several reservations (Commonwealth disputes, etc.).

• Interim measures (Art 41): binding – LaGrand (2001). Art 59: decision binding only on parties; Art 60: final and without appeal; Art 61: revision on discovery of a new fact (within 10 years); Art 62–63: intervention.

• Enforcement (Art 94): each Member undertakes to comply; the SC may make recommendations or decide on measures (e.g., Nicaragua v USA – USA blocked by veto).

• Advisory jurisdiction (Art 96): GA and SC, and other organs/agencies authorised by GA. Advisory opinions are not binding. Key AOs: Reparation for Injuries (1949), Genocide Reservations (1951), Certain Expenses (1962), Namibia (1971), Western Sahara (1975), Nuclear Weapons (1996), Wall (2004), Kosovo (2010), Chagos (2019), Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (23 July 2025), and AO relating to Israel’s obligations in respect of the UN and other organisations (October 2025).

• Important contentious cases: Corfu Channel (UK v Albania, 1949 – first case), Nicaragua (1986), Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros (1997), Bosnia Genocide (2007), Croatia v Serbia (2015), Jadhav (2019), The Gambia v Myanmar (genocide, provisional measures 2020), South Africa v Israel (Genocide Convention, provisional measures from January 2024), Ukraine v Russia (Genocide Convention).

• Headed by the Secretary-General (Art 97): appointed by the GA on the recommendation of the SC (veto applies); five-year renewable term. Art 99: SG may bring to the attention of the SC any matter threatening international peace and security (political role). Art 100: independence of staff. Art 101: staff appointed by GA regulations; paramount consideration is efficiency, competence and integrity.

• Secretaries-General: Trygve Lie (Norway, 1946–52), Dag Hammarskjöld (Sweden, 1953–61), U Thant (Burma, 1961–71), Kurt Waldheim (Austria, 1972–81), Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (Peru, 1982–91), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt, 1992–96), Kofi Annan (Ghana, 1997–2006), Ban Ki-moon (South Korea, 2007–16), António Guterres (Portugal, from 1 January 2017; second term ends 31 December 2026). The selection of the next SG is happening in 2026 – verify the appointee.

• UNCITRAL (1966), UNCTAD (1964), UNDP, UNEP (1972), UNICEF (1946), UN Women, UNHCR, Peacebuilding Commission (2005), ITLOS (Hamburg, 21 judges, UNCLOS 1982, in force 1994), International Seabed Authority (Kingston, Jamaica), ICC (Rome Statute 1998, in force 1 July 2002; The Hague; independent – not a UN organ; India not a party).