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AND

STATUTE OF THE

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

SAN FRANCISCO • 1945

CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS

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 cooperation 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 center for harmonizing the actions

of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

Article 2

The Organization and its Members, in pursuit

of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in

accordance with the following Principles.

1. The Organization is based on the principle

of the sovereign equality of all its Members.

2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of

them the rights and benefits resulting from membership,

shall fulfil in good faith the obligations

assumed by them in accordance with the present

Charter.

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 VII.

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 January 1,1942, sign the present Charter and

ratify it in accordance with Article 110.

Article 4

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.

Article 5 /

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.

Article 6

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

Article 7

1. There are established as the 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.

Article 8

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

Article 9

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

Article 10

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.

Article 11

1. The General Assembly may consider the

general principles of cooperation 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.

Article 12

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.

Article 13

1. The General Assembly shall initiate studies

and make recommendations for the purpose of :

a. promoting international cooperation in

the political field and encouraging the progressive

development of international law and its

codification;

b. promoting international cooperation 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 l(b) above are

set forth in Chapters IX and X.

Article 14

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.

Article 15

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.

Article 16

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.

Article 17

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

Article 18

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 l(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.

Article 19

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

Article 20

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.

Article 21

The General Assembly shall adopt its own rules

of procedure. It shall elect its President for each

session.

Article 22

The General Assembly may establish such

subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the

performance of its functions.

CHAPTER V

THE SECURITY COUNCIL

Composition

Article 23

1. The Security Council shall consist of eleven

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 six 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, however, three 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

Article 24

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.

Article 25

The Members of the United Nations agree to

accept and carry out the decisions of the Security

Council in accordance with the present Charter.

Article 26

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

Article 27

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 seven members.

3. Decisions of the Security Council on all

other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote

of seven 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

Article

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.

Article 29

The Security Council may establish such subsidiary

organs as it deems necessary for the performance

of its functions.

Article 30

The Security Council shall adopt its own rules

of procedure, including the method of selecting

its President.

Article 31

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.

Article 32

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

Article 33

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.

Article 34

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.

Article 35

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.

Article 36

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.

Article 37

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.

Article 38

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 W

ACTION WITH RESPECT TO THREATS TO

THE PEACE, BREACHES OF THE PEACE,

AND ACTS OF AGGRESSION

Article 39

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.

Article 40

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.

Article 41

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.

Article 42

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.

Article 43

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. .

Article 44

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 fulfilhnent

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.

Article 45

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.

Article 46

Plans for the application of armed force shall

be made by the Security Council with the assistance

of the Military Staff Committee.

Article 47

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

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 706