CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS
INTRODUCTORY
NOTE
The
Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at
the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization,
and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court
of Justice is an integral part of the Charter.
Amendments
to Articles 23, 27 and 61 of the Charter were adopted by the General Assembly
on 17 December 1963 and came into force on 31 August 1965. A further amendment
to Article 61 was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1971, and came
into force on 24 September 1973. An amendment to Article 109, adopted by the
General Assembly on 20 December 1965, came into force on 12 June 1968.
The
amendment to Article 23 enlarges the membership of the Security Council from
eleven to fifteen. The amended Article 27 provides that decisions of the
Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of
nine members (formerly seven) and on all other matters by an affirmative vote
of nine members (formerly seven), including the concurring votes of the five
permanent members of the Security Council.
The
amendment to Article 61, which entered into force on 31 August 1965, enlarged
the membership of the Economic and Social Council from eighteen to
twenty-seven. The subsequent amendment to that Article, which entered into
force on 24 September 1973, further increased the membership of the Council
from twenty-seven to fifty-four.
The
amendment to Article 109, which relates to the first paragraph of that Article,
provides that a General Conference of Member States for the purpose of
reviewing the Charter may be held at a date and place to be fixed by a
two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly and by a vote of any
nine members (formerly seven) of the Security Council. Paragraph 3 of Article
109, which deals with the consideration of a possible review conference during
the tenth regular session of the General Assembly, has been retained in its
original form in its reference to a "vote, of any seven members of the
Security Council", the paragraph having been acted upon in 1955 by the
General Assembly, at its tenth regular session, and by the Security Council.
PREAMBLE
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
·
to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought
untold sorrow to mankind, and
·
to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the
equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
·
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,
AND FOR THESE ENDS
· to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one
another as good neighbors, and
· to unite our strength to maintain international peace and
security, and
· to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution
of methods, 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,
HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS
Accordingly, our respective Governments, through
representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited
their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present
Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international
organization to be known as the United Nations.
CHAPTER I: PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES
Article 1
The Purposes of the
United Nations are:
1.
To maintain
international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective
measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the
suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring
about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and
international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or
situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
2.
To develop friendly
relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and
self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to
strengthen universal peace;
3.
To achieve
international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic,
social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging
respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without
distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
4.
To be a centre for
harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
The Organization and
its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in
accordance with the following Principles.
WHAT ARE THE CARDINAL PRINCIPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS?
WHAT ARE THE CARDINAL PRINCIPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS?
1. The Organization is based on the principle of the
sovereign equality of all its Members.(principle of equality: one member one vote)
2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights
and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the
obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.(pacta sunt servanda: the signatories must comply with their obligations in good faith)
3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by
peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and
justice, are not endangered.
4. All Members shall 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 shall give the United Nations every
assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and
shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United
Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
6. The Organization shall 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. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the
United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the
domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such
matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not
prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.
CHAPTER
II: MEMBERSHIP
Article 3
The original Members of the United Nations shall be the
states which, having participated in the United Nations Conference on
International Organization at San Francisco, or having previously signed the
Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, sign the present Charter and
ratify it in accordance with Article 110.
1.
Membership in the
United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations
contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are
able and willing to carry out these obligations.
2.
The admission of any
such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision
of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
A Member of the United Nations against which 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.
A Member of the United Nations which has persistently
violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from
the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the
Security Council.
CHAPTER
III: ORGANS
1.
There are established
as principal organs of the United Nations: a General Assembly, a Security
Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Trusteeship Council, an
International Court of Justice and a Secretariat.
2.
Such subsidiary
organs as may be found necessary may be established in accordance with the
present Charter.
The United Nations shall place no restrictions on the
eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under
conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs.
CHAPTER
IV: THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
COMPOSITION
1. The General Assembly shall consist of all the Members of
the United Nations.
2. Each Member shall have not more than five representatives
in the General Assembly.
FUNCTIONS
and POWERS
The General Assembly may discuss any questions or any
matters within the scope of the present Charter or relating to the powers and
functions of any organs provided for in the present Charter, and, except as
provided in Article 12, may make recommendations to the Members of the United
Nations or to the Security Council or to both on any such questions or matters.
1. The General Assembly may consider the general principles
of co-operation in the maintenance of international peace and security,
including the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments,
and may make recommendations with regard to such principles to the Members or
to the Security Council or to both.
2. The General Assembly may discuss any questions relating
to the maintenance of international peace and security brought before it by any
Member of the United Nations, or by the Security Council, or by a state which
is not a Member of the United Nations in accordance with Article 35, paragraph
2, and, except as provided in Article 12, may make recommendations with regard
to any such questions to the state or states concerned or to the Security
Council or to both. Any such question on which action is necessary shall be
referred to the Security Council by the General Assembly either before or after
discussion.
3. The General Assembly may call the attention of the Security
Council to situations which are likely to endanger international peace and
security.
4. The powers of the General Assembly set forth in this
Article shall not limit the general scope of Article 10.
1. While the Security Council is exercising in respect of
any dispute or situation the functions assigned to it in the present Charter,
the General Assembly shall not make any recommendation with regard to that
dispute or situation unless the Security Council so requests.
2. The Secretary-General, with the consent of the Security
Council, shall notify the General Assembly at each session of any matters
relative to the maintenance of international peace and security which are being
dealt with by the Security Council and shall similarly notify the General Assembly,
or the Members of the United Nations if the General Assembly is not in session,
immediately the Security Council ceases to deal with such matters.
1.
The General Assembly
shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of: a.
promoting international co-operation in the political field and encouraging the
progressive development of international law and its codification; b. promoting
international co-operation in the economic, social, cultural, educational, and
health fields, and assisting in the realization of human rights and fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.
2.
The further
responsibilities, functions and powers of the General Assembly with respect to
matters mentioned in paragraph 1 (b) above are set forth in Chapters IX and X.
Subject to the provisions of Article 12, the General
Assembly 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, including situations resulting from a
violation of the provisions of the present Charter setting forth the Purposes
and Principles of the United Nations.
1.
The General Assembly
shall receive and consider annual and special reports from the Security
Council; these reports shall include an account of the measures that the
Security Council has decided upon or taken to maintain international peace and
security.
2.
The General Assembly
shall receive and consider reports from the other organs of the United Nations.
The General Assembly shall perform such functions with
respect to the international trusteeship system as are assigned to it under
Chapters XII and XIII, including the approval of the trusteeship agreements for
areas not designated as strategic.
1. The General Assembly shall consider and approve the
budget of the Organization.
2. The expenses of the Organization shall be borne by the
Members as apportioned by the General Assembly.
3. The General Assembly shall consider and approve any
financial and budgetary arrangements with specialized agencies referred to in
Article 57 and shall examine the administrative budgets of such specialized
agencies with a view to making recommendations to the agencies concerned.
VOTING
1. Each member of the General Assembly shall have one vote.
2. Decisions of the General Assembly on important questions
shall be made by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting. These
questions shall include: recommendations with respect to the maintenance of
international peace and security, the election of the non-permanent members of
the Security Council, the election of the members of the Economic and Social
Council, the election of members of the Trusteeship Council in accordance with
paragraph 1 (c) of Article 86, the admission of new Members to the United
Nations, the suspension of the rights and privileges of membership, the
expulsion of Members, questions relating to the operation of the trusteeship
system, and budgetary questions.
3. Decisions on other questions, including the determination
of additional categories of questions to be decided by a two-thirds majority,
shall be made by a majority of the members present and voting.
A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the
payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote
in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the
amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. The
General Assembly may, nevertheless, permit such a Member to vote if it is
satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of
the Member.
PROCEDURE
The General Assembly shall meet in regular annual
sessions and in such special sessions as occasion may require. Special sessions
shall be convoked by the Secretary-General at the request of the Security
Council or of a majority of the Members of the United Nations.
The General Assembly shall adopt its own rules of
procedure. It shall elect its President for each session.
The General Assembly may establish such subsidiary organs
as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions.
CHAPTER
V: THE SECURITY COUNCIL
COMPOSITION
1.
The Security Council
shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations. The Republic of China,
France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America shall be
permanent members of the Security Council. The General Assembly shall elect ten
other Members of the United Nations to be non-permanent members of the Security
Council, due regard being specially paid, in the first instance to the
contribution of Members of the United Nations to the maintenance of
international peace and security and to the other purposes of the Organization,
and also to equitable geographical distribution.
2.
The non-permanent
members of the Security Council shall be elected for a term of two years. In
the first election of the non-permanent members after the increase of the
membership of the Security Council from eleven to fifteen, two of the four
additional members shall be chosen for a term of one year. A retiring member
shall not be eligible for immediate re-election.
3.
Each member of the
Security Council shall have one representative.
FUNCTIONS and POWERS
1. In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the
United Nations, its Members confer on the Security Council primary
responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and
agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security
Council acts on their behalf.
2. In discharging these duties the Security Council shall
act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. The
specific powers granted to the Security Council for the discharge of these
duties are laid down in Chapters VI, VII, VIII, and XII.
3. The Security Council shall submit annual and, when necessary,
special reports to the General Assembly for its consideration.
The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and
carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present
Charter.
In order to promote the establishment and maintenance of
international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the
world's human and economic resources, the Security Council shall be responsible
for formulating, with the assistance of the Military Staff Committee referred
to in Article 47, plans to be submitted to the Members of the United Nations
for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments.
VOTING
1.
Each member of the
Security Council shall have one vote.
2.
Decisions of the
Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of
nine members.
3.
Decisions of the
Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of
nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided
that, in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a
party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.
PROCEDURE
1. The Security Council shall be so organized as to be able
to function continuously. Each member of the Security Council shall for this
purpose be represented at all times at the seat of the Organization.
2. The Security Council shall hold periodic meetings at
which each of its members may, if it so desires, be represented by a member of
the government or by some other specially designated representative.
3. The Security Council may hold meetings at such places
other than the seat of the Organization as in its judgment will best facilitate
its work.
The Security Council may establish such subsidiary organs
as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions.
The Security Council shall adopt its own rules of
procedure, including the method of selecting its President.
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 Security Council whenever the latter considers that
the interests of that Member are specially affected.
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. The Security Council shall lay down such conditions as it deems
just for the participation of a state which is not a Member of the United
Nations.
CHAPTER
VI: PACIFIC SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES
1.
The parties to any
dispute, the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of
international peace and security, shall, first of all, seek a solution by
negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial
settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful
means of their own choice.
2.
The Security Council
shall, when it deems necessary, call upon the parties to settle their dispute
by such means.
The Security Council
may investigate any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international
friction or give rise to a dispute, in order to determine whether the
continuance of the dispute or situation is likely to endanger the maintenance
of international peace and security.
1. Any Member of the United Nations may bring any dispute,
or any situation of the nature referred to in Article 34, to the attention of
the Security Council or of the General Assembly.
2. A state which is not a Member of the United Nations may
bring to the attention of the Security Council or of the General Assembly any
dispute to which it is a party if it accepts in advance, for the purposes of
the dispute, the obligations of pacific settlement provided in the present
Charter.
3. The proceedings of the General Assembly in respect of
matters brought to its attention under this Article will be subject to the
provisions of Articles 11 and 12.
1. The Security Council may, at any stage of a dispute of
the nature referred to in Article 33 or of a situation of like nature,
recommend appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment.
2. The Security Council should take into consideration any
procedures for the settlement of the dispute which have already been adopted by
the parties.
3. In making recommendations under this Article the Security
Council should also take into consideration that legal disputes should as a
general rule be referred by the parties to the International Court of Justice
in accordance with the provisions of the Statute of the Court.
1. Should the parties to a dispute of the nature referred to
in Article 33 fail to settle it by the means indicated in that Article, they
shall refer it to the Security Council.
2. If the Security Council deems that the continuance of the
dispute is in fact likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace
and security, it shall decide whether to take action under Article 36 or to
recommend such terms of settlement as it may consider appropriate.
Without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 33 to 37,
the Security Council may, if all the parties to any dispute so request, make
recommendations to the parties with a view to a pacific settlement of the
dispute.
CHAPTER
VII: ACTION WITH RESPECT TO THREATS TO THE PEACE, BREACHES OF THE PEACE, AND
ACTS OF AGGRESSION
The Security Council shall determine the existence of any
threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make
recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with
Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and security.
In order to prevent an aggravation of the situation, the
Security Council may, before making the recommendations or deciding upon the
measures provided for in Article 39, call upon the parties concerned to comply
with such provisional measures as it deems necessary or desirable. Such
provisional measures shall be without prejudice to the rights, claims, or
position of the parties concerned. The Security Council shall duly take account
of failure to comply with such provisional measures.
The Security Council may decide what measures not
involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its
decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such
measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic
relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of
communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.
Should the Security Council consider that measures
provided for in Article 41 would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate,
it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to
maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include
demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of
Members of the United Nations.
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 or 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 the signatory states
in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.
When the Security Council has decided to use force it
shall, before calling upon a Member not represented on it to provide armed
forces in fulfilment of the obligations assumed under Article 43, invite that
Member, if the Member so desires, to participate in the decisions of the
Security Council concerning the employment of contingents of that Member's
armed forces.
In order to enable the United Nations to take urgent
military measures, Members shall hold immediately available national air-force
contingents for combined international enforcement action. The strength and
degree of readiness of these contingents and plans for their combined action
shall be determined within the limits laid down in the special agreement or
agreements referred to in Article 43, by the Security Council with the
assistance of the Military Staff Committee.
Plans for the
application of armed force shall be made by the Security Council with the
assistance of the Military Staff Committee.
1.
There shall be
established a Military Staff Committee to advise and assist the Security
Council on all questions relating to the Security Council's military
requirements for the maintenance of international peace and security, the
employment and command of forces placed at its disposal, the regulation of
armaments, and possible disarmament.
2.
The Military Staff
Committee shall consist of the Chiefs of Staff of the permanent members of the
Security Council or their representatives. Any Member of the United Nations not
permanently represented on the Committee shall be invited by the Committee to
be associated with it when the efficient discharge of the Committee's
responsibilities requires the participation of that Member in its work.
3.
The Military Staff
Committee shall be responsible under the Security Council for the strategic
direction of any armed forces placed at the disposal of the Security Council.
Questions relating to the command of such forces shall be worked out
subsequently.
4.
The Military Staff
Committee, with the authorization of the Security Council and after
consultation with appropriate regional agencies, may establish regional
sub-committees.
1.
The action required
to carry out the decisions of the Security Council for the maintenance of
international peace and security shall be taken by all the Members of the
United Nations or by some of them, as the Security Council may determine.
2.
Such decisions shall
be carried out by the Members of the United Nations directly and through their
action in the appropriate international agencies of which they are members.
The Members of the United Nations shall join in affording
mutual assistance in carrying out the measures decided upon by the Security
Council.
If preventive or enforcement measures against any state
are taken by the Security Council, any other state, whether a Member of the
United Nations or not, which finds itself confronted with special economic
problems arising from the carrying out of those measures shall have the right
to consult the Security Council with regard to a solution of those problems.
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent
right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs
against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken
measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken
by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately
reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority
and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at
any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore
international peace and security.
CHAPTER
VIII: REGIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
1.
Nothing in the
present Charter precludes the existence of regional arrangements or agencies
for dealing with such matters relating to the maintenance of international
peace and security as are appropriate for regional action provided that such
arrangements or agencies and their activities are consistent with the Purposes
and Principles of the United Nations.
2.
The Members of the
United Nations entering into such arrangements or constituting such agencies
shall make every effort to achieve pacific settlement of local disputes through
such regional arrangements or by such regional agencies before referring them
to the Security Council.
3.
The Security Council
shall encourage the development of pacific settlement of local disputes through
such regional arrangements or by such regional agencies either on the
initiative of the states concerned or by reference from the Security Council.
4.
This Article in no
way impairs the application of Articles 34 and 35.
1. The Security Council shall, where appropriate, utilize
such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its
authority. But no enforcement action shall be taken under regional arrangements
or by regional agencies without the authorization of the Security Council, with
the exception of measures against any enemy state, as defined in paragraph 2 of
this Article, provided for pursuant to Article 107 or in regional arrangements
directed against renewal of aggressive policy on the part of any such state,
until such time as the Organization may, on request of the Governments
concerned, be charged with the responsibility for preventing further aggression
by such a state.
2. The term enemy state as used in paragraph 1 of this
Article applies to any state which during the Second World War has been an
enemy of any signatory of the present Charter.
The Security Council shall at all times be kept fully
informed of activities undertaken or in contemplation under regional
arrangements or by regional agencies for the maintenance of international peace
and security.
CHAPTER
IX: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CO-OPERATION
With a view to the creation of conditions of stability
and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among
nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and
self-determination of peoples, the United Nations shall promote:
a. higher standards of living, full employment, and
conditions of economic and social progress and development;
b. solutions of international economic, social, health, and
related problems; and international cultural and educational cooperation; and
c. universal respect for, and observance of, human rights
and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language,
or religion.
All Members pledge
themselves to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the
Organization for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article 55.
1. The various specialized agencies, established by
intergovernmental agreement and having wide international responsibilities, as
defined in their basic instruments, in economic, social, cultural, educational,
health, and related fields, shall be brought into relationship with the United
Nations in accordance with the provisions of Article 63.
2. Such agencies thus brought into relationship with the
United Nations are hereinafter referred to as specialized agencies.
The Organization shall make recommendations for the
co-ordination of the policies and activities of the specialized agencies.
The Organization shall, where appropriate, initiate
negotiations among the states concerned for the creation of any new specialized
agencies required for the accomplishment of the purposes set forth in Article
55.
Responsibility for the discharge of the functions of the
Organization set forth in this Chapter shall be vested in the General Assembly
and, under the authority of the General Assembly, in the Economic and Social
Council, which shall have for this purpose the powers set forth in Chapter X.
CHAPTER
X: THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
COMPOSITION
1. The Economic and Social Council shall consist of
fifty-four Members of the United Nations elected by the General Assembly.
2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, eighteen
members of the Economic and Social Council shall be elected each year for a
term of three years. A retiring member shall be eligible for immediate
re-election.
3. At the first election after the increase in the
membership of the Economic and Social Council from twenty-seven to fifty-four
members, in addition to the members elected in place of the nine members whose
term of office expires at the end of that year, twenty-seven additional members
shall be elected. Of these twenty-seven additional members, the term of office
of nine members so elected shall expire at the end of one year, and of nine
other members at the end of two years, in accordance with arrangements made by
the General Assembly.
4. Each member of the Economic and Social Council shall have
one representative.
FUNCTIONS and POWERS
1. The Economic and Social Council may make or initiate studies
and reports with respect to international economic, social, cultural,
educational, health, and related matters and may make recommendations with
respect to any such matters to the General Assembly to the Members of the
United Nations, and to the specialized agencies concerned.
2. It may make recommendations for the purpose of promoting
respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.
3. It may prepare draft conventions for submission to the
General Assembly, with respect to matters falling within its competence.
4. It may call, in accordance with the rules prescribed by
the United Nations, international conferences on matters falling within its
competence.
1. The Economic and Social Council may enter into agreements
with any of the agencies referred to in Article 57, defining the terms on which
the agency concerned shall be brought into relationship with the United
Nations. Such agreements shall be subject to approval by the General Assembly.
2. It may co-ordinate the activities of the specialized
agencies through consultation with and recommendations to such agencies and
through recommendations to the General Assembly and to the Members of the
United Nations.
1. The Economic and Social Council may take appropriate steps
to obtain regular reports from the specialized agencies. It may make
arrangements with the Members of the United Nations and with the specialized
agencies to obtain reports on the steps taken to give effect to its own
recommendations and to recommendations on matters falling within its competence
made by the General Assembly.
2. It may communicate its observations on these reports to
the General Assembly.
The Economic and Social Council may furnish information
to the Security Council and shall assist the Security Council upon its request.
1.
The Economic and
Social Council shall perform such functions as fall within its competence in
connection with the carrying out of the recommendations of the General
Assembly.
2.
It may, with the
approval of the General Assembly, perform services at the request of Members of
the United Nations and at the request of specialized agencies.
3.
It shall perform such
other functions as are specified elsewhere in the present Charter or as may be
assigned to it by the General Assembly.
VOTING
1.
Each member of the
Economic and Social Council shall have one vote.
2.
Decisions of the
Economic and Social Council shall be made by a majority of the members present
and voting.
PROCEDURE
The Economic and Social Council shall set up commissions
in economic and social fields and for the promotion of human rights, and such
other commissions as may be required for the performance of its functions.
The Economic and Social Council shall invite any Member
of the United Nations to participate, without vote, in its deliberations on any
matter of particular concern to that Member.
The Economic and Social Council may make arrangements for
representatives of the specialized agencies to participate, without vote, in
its deliberations and in those of the commissions established by it, and for
its representatives to participate in the deliberations of the specialized
agencies.
The Economic and Social Council may make suitable
arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations which are
concerned with matters within its competence. Such arrangements may be made
with international organizations and, where appropriate, with national
organizations after consultation with the Member of the United Nations
concerned.
1.
The Economic and
Social Council shall adopt its own rules of procedure, including the method of
selecting its President.
2.
The Economic and
Social Council shall meet as required in accordance with its rules, which shall
include provision for the convening of meetings on the request of a majority of
its members.
CHAPTER
XI: DECLARATION REGARDING NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES
Members of the United Nations which have or assume
responsibilities for the administration of territories whose peoples have not
yet attained a full measure of self-government recognize the principle that the
interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount, and accept as
a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost, within the system of
international peace and security established by the present Charter, the
well-being of the inhabitants of these territories, and, to this end:
a. to ensure, with due respect for the culture of the
peoples concerned, their political, economic, social, and educational
advancement, their just treatment, and their protection against abuses;
b. to develop self-government, to take due account of the
political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive
development of their free political institutions, according to the particular
circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of
advancement;
c. to further international peace and security;
d. to promote constructive measures of development, to encourage
research, and to co-operate with one another and, when and where appropriate,
with specialized international bodies with a view to the practical achievement
of the social, economic, and scientific purposes set forth in this Article; and
e. to transmit regularly to the Secretary-General for
information purposes, subject to such limitation as security and constitutional
considerations may require, statistical and other information of a technical
nature relating to economic, social, and educational conditions in the
territories for which they are respectively responsible other than those
territories to which Chapters XII and XIII apply.
Members of the United Nations also agree that their
policy in respect of the territories to which this Chapter applies, no less
than in respect of their metropolitan areas, must be based on the general
principle of good-neighbourliness, due account being taken of the interests and
well-being of the rest of the world, in social, economic, and commercial
matters.
CHAPTER
XII: INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEESHIP SYSTEM
The United Nations shall establish under its authority an
international trusteeship system for the administration and supervision of such
territories as may be placed thereunder by subsequent individual agreements.
These territories are hereinafter referred to as trust territories.
The basic objectives of the trusteeship system, in
accordance with the Purposes of the United Nations laid down in Article 1 of
the present Charter, shall be:
a. to further international peace and security;
b. to promote the political, economic, social, and
educational advancement of the inhabitants of the trust territories, and their
progressive development towards self-government or independence as may be
appropriate to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples
and the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned, and as may be
provided by the terms of each trusteeship agreement;
c. to encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion,
and to encourage recognition of the interdependence of the peoples of the
world; and
d. to ensure equal treatment in social, economic, and
commercial matters for all Members of the United Nations and their nationals,
and also equal treatment for the latter in the administration of justice,
without prejudice to the attainment of the foregoing objectives and subject to
the provisions of Article 80.
1.
The trusteeship
system shall apply to such territories in the following categories as may be
placed thereunder by means of trusteeship agreements:
a. territories now held under
mandate;
b. territories which may be detached from enemy
states as a result of the Second World War; and
c. territories voluntarily placed under the system by states responsible for their administration.
c. territories voluntarily placed under the system by states responsible for their administration.
2.
It will be a matter
for subsequent agreement as to which territories in the foregoing categories
will be brought under the trusteeship system and upon what terms.
The trusteeship system shall not apply to territories
which have become Members of the United Nations, relationship among which shall
be based on respect for the principle of sovereign equality.
The terms of trusteeship for each territory to be placed
under the trusteeship system, including any alteration or amendment, shall be
agreed upon by the states directly concerned, including the mandatory power in
the case of territories held under mandate by a Member of the United Nations,
and shall be approved as provided for in Articles 83 and 85.
1. Except as may be agreed upon in individual trusteeship
agreements, made under Articles 77, 79, and 81, placing each territory under
the trusteeship system, and until such agreements have been concluded, nothing
in this Chapter shall be construed in or of itself to alter in any manner the
rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing
international instruments to which Members of the United Nations may
respectively be parties.
2. Paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be interpreted as giving
grounds for delay or postponement of the negotiation and conclusion of
agreements for placing mandated and other territories under the trusteeship
system as provided for in Article 77.
The trusteeship agreement shall in each case include the
terms under which the trust territory will be administered and designate the
authority which will exercise the administration of the trust territory. Such
authority, hereinafter called the administering authority, may be one or more
states or the Organization itself.
There may be designated, in any trusteeship agreement, a
strategic area or areas which may include part or all of the trust territory to
which the agreement applies, without prejudice to any special agreement or
agreements made under Article 43.
1. All functions of the United Nations relating to strategic
areas, including the approval of the terms of the trusteeship agreements and of
their alteration or amendment shall be exercised by the Security Council.
2. The basic objectives set forth in Article 76 shall be
applicable to the people of each strategic area.
3. The Security Council shall, subject to the provisions of
the trusteeship agreements and without prejudice to security considerations,
avail itself of the assistance of the Trusteeship Council to perform those
functions of the United Nations under the trusteeship system relating to
political, economic, social, and educational matters in the strategic areas.
It shall be the duty of the administering authority to ensure
that the trust territory shall play its part in the maintenance of
international peace and security. To this end the administering authority may
make use of volunteer forces, facilities, and assistance from the trust
territory in carrying out the obligations towards the Security Council
undertaken in this regard by the administering authority, as well as for local
defence and the maintenance of law and order within the trust territory.
1. The functions of the United Nations with regard to trusteeship
agreements for all areas not designated as strategic, including the approval of
the terms of the trusteeship agreements and of their alteration or amendment,
shall be exercised by the General Assembly.
2. The Trusteeship Council, operating under the authority of
the General Assembly shall assist the General Assembly in carrying out these
functions.
CHAPTER
XIII: THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL
COMPOSITION
1. The Trusteeship Council shall consist of the following
Members of the United Nations:
a. those Members administering trust territories;
b. such of those Members mentioned by name in Article 23 as
are not administering trust territories; and
c. as many other Members elected for three-year terms by the
General Assembly as may be necessary to ensure that the total number of members
of the Trusteeship Council is equally divided between those Members of the
United Nations which administer trust territories and those which do not.
2. Each member of the Trusteeship Council shall designate
one specially qualified person to represent it therein.
FUNCTIONS and POWERS
The General Assembly
and, under its authority, the Trusteeship Council, in carrying out their
functions, may:
a. consider reports submitted by the administering
authority;
b. accept petitions and examine them in consultation with
the administering authority;
c. provide for periodic visits to the respective trust
territories at times agreed upon with the administering authority; and
d. take these and other actions in conformity with the terms
of the trusteeship agreements.
The Trusteeship Council shall formulate a questionnaire
on the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the
inhabitants of each trust territory, and the administering authority for each
trust territory within the competence of the General Assembly shall make an
annual report to the General Assembly upon the basis of such questionnaire.
VOTING
1. Each member of the Trusteeship Council shall have one
vote.
2. Decisions of the Trusteeship Council shall be made by a
majority of the members present and voting.
PROCEDURE
1. The Trusteeship Council shall adopt its own rules of
procedure, including the method of selecting its President.
2. The Trusteeship Council shall meet as required in
accordance with its rules, which shall include provision for the convening of
meetings on the request of a majority of its members.
The Trusteeship Council shall, when appropriate, avail
itself of the assistance of the Economic and Social Council and of the
specialized agencies in regard to matters with which they are respectively
concerned.
CHAPTER
XIV: THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
The International Court of Justice shall be the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations. It shall function in accordance with the
annexed Statute, which is based upon the Statute of the Permanent Court of
International Justice and forms an integral part of the present Charter.
1. All Members of the United Nations are ipso
facto parties to the
Statute of the International Court of Justice.
2. A state which is not a Member of the United Nations may
become a party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice on
conditions to be determined in each case by the General Assembly upon the
recommendation of the Security Council.
1. Each Member of the United Nations undertakes to comply
with the decision of the International Court of Justice in any case to which it
is a party.
2. 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.
Nothing in the present Charter shall prevent Members of
the United Nations from entrusting the solution of their differences to other
tribunals by virtue of agreements already in existence or which may be
concluded in the future.
a. The General Assembly or the Security Council may request
the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal
question.
b. Other organs of the United Nations and specialized
agencies, which may at any time be so authorized by the General Assembly, may
also request advisory opinions of the Court on legal questions arising within
the scope of their activities.
CHAPTER
XV: THE SECRETARIAT
The Secretariat shall comprise a Secretary-General and
such staff as the Organization may require. The Secretary-General shall be
appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security
Council. He shall be the chief administrative officer of the Organization.
The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity in all
meetings of the General Assembly, of the Security Council, of the Economic and
Social Council, and of the Trusteeship Council, and shall perform such other
functions as are entrusted to him by these organs. The Secretary-General shall
make an annual report to the General Assembly on the work of the Organization.
The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the
Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance
of international peace and security.
1. In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General
and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or
from any other authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from
any action which might reflect on their position as international officials
responsible only to the Organization.
2. Each Member of the United Nations undertakes 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.
1.
The staff shall be
appointed by the Secretary-General under regulations established by the General
Assembly.
2.
Appropriate staffs
shall be permanently assigned to the Economic and Social Council, the
Trusteeship Council, and, as required, to other organs of the United Nations.
These staffs shall form a part of the Secretariat.
3.
The paramount
consideration in the employment of the staff and in the determination of the
conditions of service shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards
of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard shall be paid to the
importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
CHAPTER
XVI: MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
1. Every treaty and every international agreement entered
into by any Member of the United Nations after the present Charter comes into
force shall as soon as possible be registered with the Secretariat and
published by it.
2. No party to any such treaty or international agreement
which has not been registered in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1
of this Article may invoke that treaty or agreement before any organ of the
United Nations.
In the event of a conflict between the obligations of the
Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations
under any other international agreement, their obligations under the present
Charter shall prevail.
The Organization shall enjoy in the territory of each of
its Members such legal capacity as may be necessary for the exercise of its
functions and the fulfilment of its purposes.
1. The Organization shall enjoy in the territory of each of its
Members such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the fulfillment of
its purposes.
2. Representatives of the Members of the United Nations and
officials of the Organization shall similarly enjoy such privileges and
immunities as are necessary for the independent exercise of their functions in
connection with the Organization.
3. The General Assembly may make recommendations with a view
to determining the details of the application of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this
Article or may propose conventions to the Members of the United Nations for
this purpose.
CHAPTER
XVII: TRANSITIONAL SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS
Pending the coming into force of such special agreements
referred to in Article 43 as in the opinion of the Security Council enable it
to begin the exercise of its responsibilities under Article 42, the parties to
the Four-Nation Declaration, signed at Moscow, 30 October 1943, and France,
shall, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 5 of that Declaration,
consult with one another and as occasion requires with other Members of the
United Nations with a view to such joint action on behalf of the Organization
as may be necessary for the purpose of maintaining international peace and
security.
Nothing in the present Charter shall invalidate or
preclude action, in relation to any state which during the Second World War has
been an enemy of any signatory to the present Charter, taken or authorized as a
result of that war by the Governments having responsibility for such action.
CHAPTER XVIII:
AMENDMENTS
Amendments to the present Charter shall come into force
for all Members of the United Nations when they have been adopted by a vote of
two thirds of the members of the General Assembly and ratified in accordance
with their respective constitutional processes by two thirds of the Members of
the United Nations, including all the permanent members of the Security
Council.
1. A General Conference of the Members of the United Nations
for the purpose of reviewing the present Charter may be held at a date and
place to be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly
and by a vote of any nine members of the Security Council. Each Member of the
United Nations shall have one vote in the conference.
2. Any alteration of the present Charter recommended by a
two-thirds vote of the conference shall take effect when ratified in accordance
with their respective constitutional processes by two thirds of the Members of
the United Nations including all the permanent members of the Security Council.
3. If such a conference has not been held before the tenth
annual session of the General Assembly following the coming into force of the
present Charter, the proposal to call such a conference shall be placed on the
agenda of that session of the General Assembly, 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.
CHAPTER XIX:
RATIFICATION AND SIGNATURE
1. The present Charter shall be ratified by the signatory
states in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.
2. The ratifications shall be deposited with the Government
of the United States of America, which shall notify all the signatory states of
each deposit as well as the Secretary-General of the Organization when he has
been appointed.
3. The present Charter shall come into force upon the
deposit of ratifications by the Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
and the United States of America, and by a majority of the other signatory
states. A protocol of the ratifications deposited shall thereupon be drawn up
by the Government of the United States of America which shall communicate
copies thereof to all the signatory states.
4. The states signatory to the present Charter which ratify
it after it has come into force will become original Members of the United
Nations on the date of the deposit of their respective ratifications.
The present Charter, of which the Chinese, French,
Russian, English, and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall remain
deposited in the archives of the Government of the United States of America.
Duly certified copies thereof shall be transmitted by that Government to the
Governments of the other signatory states.
IN FAITH WHEREOF the representatives of the Governments
of the United Nations have signed the present Charter. DONE at the city of San
Francisco the twenty-sixth day of June, one thousand nine hundred and
forty-five.
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