The United Nations

1. The United Nations

2. Structure of the United Nations • Early organizations • Structure and roles of the UN’s organs

3. Renaissance to Hague • “United Nations” presupposes “nations.” The Renaissance saw emergence of European nation-states from under the Catholic Church. • Battlefield realities defined early geopolitical organizations. • Armies held the power, but the statesmen were starting to think about social and economic issues. • In the 17th and 18th centuries, cooperation among countries was usually limited to formalizing battlefield realities. • The 1815 Congress of Vienna (the meeting of the victors over Napoleon) finally went beyond the results of the battlefield to addressing socio-economic issues (slavery, navigation, etc.)

4. Renaissance to Hague • By the Hague Conferences (1899 & 1907), the parties had determined that an enforcement mechanism was necessary. The results were the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. • Although limitations on war were the primary motivation behind the conferences (the Geneva Convention is, in essence, a protocol of these conferences), the political posturing and suspicions of the participants permeated the meetings. • The descent into WWI ended the hope of future “Peace Conferences.” • Hague resources are abundant, online (avalon.law.yale.edu), in the Consolidated Treaty Series, or in anthologies of landmark texts.

5. League of Nations • Once again, it was the aftermath of a war that brought the most powerful states together. • Although the effectiveness of the League was limited by absence of key powers, such as the U.S., much was still accomplished. • Collective security was the League’s goal but was never achieved. • The Assembly (all members) was structurally inferiorto the Council (the major powers). • The Council’s unanimity rule delayed/prevented action and the League had no resources to enforce resolutions independent of major powers.

6. League of Nations • Legacy of the League • WWII represented the failure of the fundamental vision of the League. • It stopped meeting during the war, although some of the branches moved to the U.S. to continue what work they could. • When the UN was created in 1946, the League dissolved.

7. League of Nations • Major lessons: • Need for independent (enforcement) resources • Voting by majority rather than unanimity • Mutual defense compact • More power sharing by the most powerful nations • Resources • Avalon project • The UN considers itself the depository of League documents, although the U.S. is the depository of the UN Charter.

8. The United Nations • The UN is a treaty organization. Therefore, its powers are limited by interpretation of its charter. • Although its organs do have some prominence, states can arguably disregard or abandon any aspect of the UN. • All it would take is a unilateral RUD or a letter of withdrawal.

9. The United Nations • The UN represents governments—not people, so • It is not a world parliament • Resolutions are not law • But when followed, resolutions naturally become international custom.

10. Organs The UN Charter created six organs or branches. UN Charter Security Council General Assembly Secretariat Economic and Social Council International Court of Justice The three principle organs of the UN were also present in the League, although relative to the League Council, the Security Council has divested itself of some its power to other organs. In the League, the functions of these organs used to be subsidiary to the principal three, now they have more power by virtue of their (structural) independence. Trusteeship Council The Trusteeship Council was charged with administering non-self governing territories—essentially, that meant assisting territories that were part of colonial empires achieve independence. In fulfilling its role in 1994, it has ceased meaningful existence, but the amendment necessary to formally disband it has not yet been deemed worth the effort.

11. Security Council

12. UN Charter Security Council General Assembly Secretariat Economic and Social Council International Court of Justice Trusteeship Council • The Security Council is composed of • Five permanent members: China, France, Russia, U.K., & U.S. • Ten temporary members elected for two years by the General Assembly. • Decisions are reached when 9 of the 15 approve. • However, the “veto” or “great power unanimity rule” requires unanimity (or abstention) from the permanent members. • Unlike the other organs, whose actions are recommendations to governments, member states are obligated by the Charter to comply with certain types of Security Council resolutions.

13. Charter functions and powers of the Security Council: • Investigate disputes or situations that might lead to international friction, • Recommend solutions, including terms of settlements, • Call on states to apply economic sanctions or other measures short of force, • Take military action against an aggressor, and • Nominate secretary general and judges of the International Court.

14. Because of the power of permanent seats (i.e., veto power, the ability to legally possess nuclear weapons, etc.), Germany and Japan have made strong demands for seats. • For example, France was important in 1945 but why should it have a greater voice than Brazil, Germany, India, or Japan 65 years later? • The struggle is whether that would reduce the number of rotating seats or whether the council would grow to 17. (Kofi Annan suggested a 24 member Council) • The Clinton administration endorsed the proposal to create regional permanent seats that recognized regions but did not lock in a single country.

15. The veto power has rarely been used to block resolutions regarding threats to international peace and security, the threat of veto moderates (weakens) resolutions. • Perhaps to blunt calls for restructuring, Council members have been using the veto much less frequently since the 1990s. This corresponds to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War. • In addition, although it does not have to include non-council members in its deliberations, the Security Council has increasingly invited any party centralto an issue under discussion to attend. • Full text of resolutions are at http://www.un.org/en/sc/documents/resolutions/index.shtml

16. General Assembly

17. Admittance to the UN gives a country a vote in the General Assembly. • Although, the League’s requirement of unanimity was abandoned, major decisions (those regarding peace & security, admission of new members, budgetary matters, etc.) require a two-thirds majority. • Routine business and declarations require only a simple majority. • While the General Assembly’s decisions have no legalbinding force as such on governments, they carry the weight of world opinion, as well as, the moral authority of the world community.

18. Charter functions and powers of the General Assembly: • Consider issues of peace and security and make recommendations, unless the Security Council is concurrently discussing it, • Consider all issues falling under the Charter or its organs, and make recommendations (again, Security Council takes priority), • Initiate studies to address issues in international law, human rights, as well as, economic and social problems, • “Receive” (act on) reports from the Security Council and Secretary-General, • Consider and approve the UN budget and apportion contributions, and • Elect non-permanent members of the Security Council, the members of the Trusteeship and Economic & Social Councils, approve the Secretary-General and ICJ judges together with the Security Council.

19. If the Security Council fails to act on a threat to peace because of lack of unanimity, the General Assembly is empowered to consider the matter immediately and recommend collective measures including armed force. • The last time the Security Council’s inaction triggered this was when Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1982. • At the beginning of every session, before any votes are initiated, there is a period of general debate, most of which is carried out within the six major committees. • These committees draft resolutions, which are voted on at the end of the session.

20. General Assembly: Main Committees General Assembly First Committee Disarmament & International Security (DISEC) Second Committee Economic & Financial Committee (ECOFIN) Third Committee Social, Humanitarian, & Cultural Committee (SOCHUM) Fourth Committee Special Political & Decolonization (SPECPOL) Fifth Committee Administrative and Budgetary Committee Sixth Committee Legal Committee

21. Once a resolution is passed, UN organs, committees, specially created conferences, etc. work beyond the session to implement the decisions. • Given the highly technical/specialized nature of the world’s problems, sometimes the best the General Assembly can do is to vote to sponsor a conference on the issue, and endorse the resolution that results. • The full text of proceedings and resolutions are published by the Secretariat: http://www.un.org/documents/

22. The General Assembly recognizes that its resolutions have force primarily as customary law. Since customary law is determined by the number of states that comply, the General Assembly tends to pass the weakest resolutions in order to get the broadest support. • In the UN hierarchy, the General Assembly “controls” the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the bodies that report through it. • This control is by no means absolute. The third-world majority in the General Assembly has sometimes set up parallel bodies. The classic example was the creation of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), when the ECOSOC was unresponsive to certain issues. • Other overlap is apparent on any UN organizational chart.

23. The first steps toward international cooperation were made when victors made agreements on the battlefield. • The shift in power from the battlefield to the General Assembly is significant. • Even though the major powers in the Security Council control the “guns,” its limited scope has let the General Assembly emerge as the primary body in a way that was unthinkable under the League.

24. The Secretariat

25. The Secretariat is assigned the administrative functions of the UN. • It is the UN’s “secretary,” recording and publishing treaties, gathering information, organizing conferences, and managing the budget. • But it is also an executive in that it directs peace-keeping missions, advises governments, and implements UN resolutions.

26. Secretary-General: Diplomat and Mediator • Kofi Anan (Secretary General from 1997-2006) • “I am a cheerleader, I am a promoter, I am a salesman, I am a debt collector, I am a father confessor and there are other aspects I still have to discover.” • The Secretary-General is constantly, quietly, asking nations to pay their assessments and support peace-keeping missions. • He is a mediator that can mediate solutions that allow states to keep face.

27. Secretary-General: Researcher and Budget Drafter • The charter gives the Secretary-General the power to put an item on the agenda of the General Assembly. This has become a power of initiative. In addition to raising an issue, the Secretary-General always provides a proposal. • Whether initiated in the Secretariat or not, it is the Secretariat that generally provides the reports upon which the General Assembly bases its resolutions. • Although the Secretariat’s budget allocates funds according to the programs voted on by the General Assembly, the Secretary-General does have some discretion in the levels of funding.

28. During the term of the second Secretary-General, both the Security Council and General Assembly were frequently deadlocked (by Cold War polarity), so UN functions were increasingly delegated to him. This greatly expanded the scope of the Secretary-General’s duties and today it is common for him to be placed in charge of implementing resolutions. • Some scholars insist there is an important difference between his delegated and charter powers. • His staff of 8,900 are supposed to be autonomous but every nation tries to influence the composition of the Secretariat for its advantage.

29. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

30. Until the last 15 years, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was primarily a deliberative and consultative body. Even though it administered important subsidiary bodies, its own deliberations were marginal. • Its relevance has increased with its success in providing coherent policies to its subsidiaries and coordinating projects of multiple bodies (essential because of their overlapping responsibilities). • Activities are listed on its website: http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/. • The documents of the council itself are published by the Secretariat: http://www.un.org/documents/

31. ECOSOC includes: • The Regional Commissions(Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, Western Asia) • Functional Commissions (Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Narcotic Drugs, Population and Development, Science and Technology, Social Development, Statistics, Status of Women, Sustainable Development) • Standing Committees and Expert bodies: deliberative and policy committees.

32. Note: “Special” or “Specialized” Agencies coordinate through ECOSOC rather than being directly controlled by it. Many are established by their own treaties, some of which have more members than the UN itself [(e.g., Universal Postal Union (UPU)].

33. Specialized Agencies ILO - International Labour Organization FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization WHO - World Health Organization World Bank Group IBRD - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development IDA - International Development Association IFC - International Finance Corporation MIGA - Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency ICSID - International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes IMF - International Monetary Fund ICAO - International Civil Aviation Organization IMO - International Maritime Organization ITU - International Telecommunication Union UPU - Universal Postal Union WMO - World Meteorological Organization WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization IRO - International Refugee Organization (ceased to exist in 1952) INCB - International Narcotics Control Board UNWTO - United Nations World Tourism Organization

34. The General Assembly elects the fifty four (54) ECOSOC members, who then constitute the committees. First world countries usually have a disproportionately large share. Caveat: Researchers need to be aware of overlapping responsibilities. For example, a point of customary law sought to be established could be treated by the Secretariat, the General Assembly, or ECOSOC.

35. International Court of Justice (ICJ)

36. International Court of Justice • Adjudicates between states who submit a contentious issue to it. Only states come before the court, individuals are not tried there, nor can they bring suit. • Prepares advisory opinions on international law when requested by a UN body. The Charter specifies which bodies can request an opinion. However, that does not expressly bind any UN body to an opinion. Likewise, the Court does not authoritatively interpret the Charter the way the Supreme Court interprets the U.S. Constitution.

37. States consent to adjudication in three ways: • “Special agreement” is based on explicit consent to submit a specific controversy to the Court • “Compromissory clause” triggers the Court’s jurisdiction based on “treaties and conventions in force” (“jurisdictional clause”). • Sixty-five countries (as of 2005) have a “special agreement” accepting jurisdiction in disputes arising between other states in the agreement (“reciprocal effect of declarations”).

38. Jurisdiction is such a large part of the cases that those not dismissed for lack of jurisdiction have the term “Merits” as part of the citation in some publications. • If a state does not comply with an ICJ’s decision, the Security Council is asked to enforce the judgment. • Decisions are published by year and party at http://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/ in French and English. Their docket is quite light and the decisions are widely published in unofficial sources.

39. The Court has 15 members, no two of which can be of the same nationality. The permanent members of the Security Council have always had a citizen on the court. • The ICJ applies (1) international conventions, (2) international custom, (3) “general principles,” and (4) scholarship/precedent. • When the parties consent, the Court can also rule in equity, that is, fairness rather than specific law. • Decisions are made by simple majority. Both concurrences and dissents are published.

40. Summary Security Council Charged with peace/security issues; resolutions are binding. Main deliberative body. Resolutions are binding to the extent they become customary law. Most UN bodies report through the Assembly. General Assembly Researcher, facilitator, and administrator. Secretary-General is a heavy-weight mediator. Secretariat Economic and Social Council Reports to General Assembly and is directed by it. Provides policy guidance to and coordinates its many important subsidiaries. International Court of Justice Resolves disputes and provides opinions. Trusteeship Council Accomplished its mission in 1994.

41. Questions?