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The Codification of General Principles for United Nations Peace-Keeping Operations*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2009

R.C.R. Siekmann
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Extract

It may be observed that there exist no general, written rules or principles for UN peace-keeping operations. A codification on the basis of existing practice has not as yet come about. At the moment we only have at our disposal the text of the draft guidelines for UN peace-keeping operations (13 Articles) which were drawn up within the framework of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations of the UN General Assembly. The latest version already dates back to 1977. The reason why no substantial progress has since been made is political disagreement in the Special Committee, especially with regard to the fundamental question of the distribution of powers between the Security Council and the Secretary-General concerning the direction of a UN peace-keeping force. Therefore, alternative provisions are to be found in the present text. So, Article 1, paragraph 1, reads: ‘[The Security Council has the authority over the establishment, direction and control of peace-keeping operations]’, and Article 6: ‘The Secretary-General, under the authority of the Security Council, [shall direct the implementation of peace-keeping operations] [shall direct peace-keeping operations] [is in charge of the implementation of peace-keeping operations, receiving guidance from a subsidiary body of the Security Council], within the mandate entrusted to him by the United Nations Charter, contributing with all means at his disposal to giving effect to relevant decisions of the Security Council.’

Type
Asser Institute Lectures on International Law: Political and Legal Aspects of UN Peace-Keeping Operations
Information
Netherlands International Law Review , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , December 1988 , pp. 328 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © T.M.C. Asser Press 1988

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References

1. UN Doc. A/32/394 Annex II Appendix I.

2. See, for a discussion of the draft guidelines, Franke, D., ‘Streitkräfte der Vereinten Nationen – Entwicklung und aktuelle Probleme”, Archiv des Völkerrechts (1979/1980), particularly pp. 171–179Google Scholar; for a description of the work of the Special Committee see Rikhye, Indar Jit, The Theory and Practice of Peacekeeping (1984) Ch. 6, pp. 179–202Google Scholar.

3. UNEF ‘II’/UNDOF guidelines: UN Doc. S/11052/Rev. 1 para. 4(a); UNIFIL guidelines: UN Doc. S/12611 para. 4(a).

4. Urquhart, B., A Life in Peace and War (1987) pp. 240–242Google Scholar.

5. UN Doc. S/20093 para. 5(a-d).

6. SOFA: UNTS Vol. 260 p. 61; standard participation agreement: UN Doc. A/3943 Annex I.

7. UNTS Vol. 1 p. 16.

8. Wiseman, H., ed., Peacekeeping. Appraisals and Proposals (1983) pp. 81–82, 109–110Google Scholar.