Legal Aspects ofInternational Organization

Volume 53

The titles published in this seriesarelisted at the back of this volume,and also at: brill.nlllaio

The Law and Practice of theUnited Nations

Fourth Revised Edition

By

Benedetto Conforti and Carlo Focarelli

MA RT INUS

NI]HOFFP UB LI SH ER S

LEIDEN • BOSTON2010

. "

This book is pri nted on acid -free pap er.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in -Publicatio n Data

Conforti. Benedetto.[Nazloni Unite. English]The law and pra ctice of the United Nations I by Benedetto Confor ti, Carlo Focarelli. -­

4th rev. ed.p. em. -- (Legal aspects of international organization ; 53)

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-90-04-18629-3 (hardback : alk. pap er) 1. United Nations. I. Focarelli, Carlo.

II . Title.KZ4986.C6613 2010341.23--dc22

2010027970

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it 1lg,.~ Co. £~E:" sol" '>E' '2.-10 2.olb~;; ~'.~ ~ vt l.:> 2.-4 2. 1 S5ISSN 0924-4883ISBN 978 90 04 18629 3

Copyright 2010 by KoninkI ijke Brill NY, Leiden, 1he Netherlands.Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imp rints Brill, Hotei Publishing.IDC Publishers. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.

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Contents

Preface xiPreface to the previous editions xiiiAbbreviations xvGeneral bibliography xxi

INTRODUCTION

l. Or igins of the United Nations Charter 1A) From the Atlant ic Charter to the San Francisco Conference 1B) The San Francisco Conference, the entry into force of the

Charter, and present United Nations membership 3C) Relationship between the League of Nations and the

United Nations 62. The purposes of the United Nations 73. The organs 84. The Charter as a treaty 95. Interpretation of the Charter 136. The power to interpret the Charte r 167. The "rigidity" of the Charter and amendment and review

procedures 198. Present trends to revise the Char ter 21

C HA PTER l. M EM BERSH IP IN THE ORGANIZATI ON

Section I. Acquisition ofMembership Status

9. Admission 2910. Admission requirements 2911 . Adm ission of mini-States 3312. Admission of neutralized States 3413. The so-called conditional admission and the non-existence

of "positive" obligations of the UN organs .4014. Readmission 46

Section II. Modifications in Membership Status

15. Suspension 4716. Expulsion 5017. Withdrawal 50

p-.;-----------------001IIIIII__----------- -vi Contents Contents vii

18. Effects of State succession on membership status 5219. Governme nts created as a result of revolutions or foreign

m ilitary interventions 5720. Governments in exile 6421. State succession and r ules on crede ntials 66

Section V. The Interna tional Court ofJustice

40. Organization of th e Co urt 14241. Election of judges 144

CHAPTER 3. THE FUNCTIONS

C HAPTER 2. T HE ORGANS

Section I. The Security Council

22. Composition of the Counc il. Election of non-permanentMembers 71

23. Voting procedure in the Council: A) The nature of the fourPowers ' Statement at the San Francisco Conference 74

24. B) The so -called veto power and the significan ce of abstentionby a perman ent Member 76

25. C) Absence of a perman ent Member 7926. D) The problem of the do uble veto 8127. E) Abste ntion from voting by a Member party to a dispute 8828. F) Approval by "consensus" 9529. Part icipation in Security Council meetings of States which

are not members of th e organ 97

Section II. The General Assem bly

30. Co mposition of th e Assembly. Subs idiary organs 10I31. Voting procedure in the Assembly: A) The "present and vot ing"

majority 10432. B) Simple majority and qualified majori ty 10633. C) Approval by "conse nsus" 114

Sect ion Ill. The Secretariat

34. Appointment of the Secretary-General... 11535. The Secretariat staff and the legal natu re of the employment

relationships 11636. Privileges and immunities of UN officials 12537. The protection of UN officials 129

Section IV. The Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Cou ncil

38. Composition and functions of the Economic and SocialCouncil 137

39. The Trusteesh ip Council 141

Section I. General lim its to the United Nationsfunction s

42. Limits ratione personae and ratione materiae 14743. The Un ited Nations and non-Member States 14744. The domestic jurisdiction clause (Article 2. pa ra. 7) 15545. A) The notion of domestic jurisdiction 157

I. The legal no tion · 158II. The not ion under Article 2, para. 7 159

Ill. Developments in th e practice 16546. B) The meaning of "intervene" 17047. C) The significance of the exception in the last part of

Article 2, para. 7 17148. D) Competence to interpret Article 2, para. 7 175

Section II. Maintena nce of the Peace: The f unctions of the Security Council

49. Chapters VI and VII of the Charter 17550. The power to seize the Counci l 1785 1. Invest igation 18252. The peaceful sett lement fun ct ion under Chapter VI.

A) Objective pre-co nditions 18853. B) Indication to the States of "procedure s or methods" for

settl ing differen ces th at may endanger the peace 19354. C) The indication of "terms of settlement" 19655. Action with respect to maintenan ce of th e peace under

Chapter VII. Gen eral remarks 19956. The determi nation of a th reat to the peace, a breach of the peace,

or an act of aggression 20457. The measures provided for by th e Charter. A) Recommendations

under Article 39 22058. B) Provisional measures (Article 40) 22359. C) Measures not involving th e use offorce (Article 41) 23160. D) Measures involving the use of force (Articles 42 ff.).

Peacekeeping operations 25661. The authorization of the use of force by States 27162. Admini stration of territories 287

viii Contents Contents ix

Section III. Maintenance of the Peace: Thefunctions of theGeneral Assem bly

63. Discussions and recommendations on general question s 30464. The peaceful settlement function 30565. The prob lem of General Assembly powers regarding "action':

A) The solutions given by the Charter 30966. B) The alleged formation of customary rules 314

Section IV. Main tenance of the Peace: The fun ctions of theSecretary-General

67. Delegated functions and executive functions 31868. Autonomous initiatives for peaceful sett lement 321

Section V. Mai ntenance of the Peace and regional organizations

69. Regional actions "authorized" by the Security Council 32570. Existing regional Organization s 330

Section VI. Economic co-operation and action for development

71. Political decolonization and economic decolonization.Co-operation for "sustainable" development 338

72. The organs charged with economic co-operation 33973. Normative functions 33974. Operational functions 34575. Relations with Specialized Agencies 349

Section VII. The Protection ofHuman Rights

76. Genera l aspects of United Nations action 35477. Action regarding individual countries 35678. Resolutions of a general nature 35979. The Human RIghts Covenants and the Human Rights

Committee 360

Section VIII. Decoloniza tion and self-determ ination ofpeoples

80. UN compe tence to decide on the independence of peop les undercolonial domination 364

81. The self-determination of peoples 36882. Trusteeship 37183. The case ofNamibia 374

I

Section IX. Registration of treaties

84. Effects of registration 37785. Effects of non-registration 378

Section X. The judicial function s

86. The judicial settlement of disputes between States 38187. The advisory function of the Internation al Court of)ustice 382

Section XI. Financing the Organization

88. Obligatory contributions of the Member States 39289. Voluntary contributions 40090. Issuance ofloans and other "alternative" funding methods .401

C HA PTER 4. TH E ACTS

91. Recommendations to the States .40392. Decisions 40893. Organizational resolutions 41094. Operational resolutions 41195. Proposals, authoris ations, delegations of powers or functions,

approvals, directives, recommendations between the organs .41296. Declarat ions of principles 41397. The UN resolutions and the rule oflaw: The duty of the organs

to comply with the Charter and with internationallaw 41898. The observance of rules of proced ure .41999. Illegality of the acts and the role of consensualism in the

United Nations system 422

I ND EX .... .... ..... ........ .... .......... .. ..•.. .. ..... ... .. .... . ... ... ..... .... ... .... ........... ....... ........ .. .... ... .431