We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Law and administration
Key facts
Headquarters: New York
Members: 192 countries
Mandate: to end international war, and promote social and economic development.
Key structure: six principal “organs” are the General Assembly (all UN members, to make recommendations to states), the Security Council (fifteen members, to take enforcement action on international security), the International Court of Justice (to decide legal disputes between states), the Secretariat (the Secretary-General and staff), the Economic and Social Council (fifty-four members, to make recommendations on economic and social questions), and the Trusteeship Council (defunct).
Key obligations: member states must give up the use of force except for self-defense, must carry out Security Council decisions, and can conclude no treaty that contradicts the Charter.
Enforcement: the Security Council can take any action it deems necessary, including the use of force, to respond to threats to international peace and security.
Key legal clauses of the UN Charter:
Article 2(1) “The Organization is based on the … sovereign equality of all its Members.”
Article 2(4) “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force …”
Article 2(7) “Nothing … in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state …”
Article 4(2) “Membership in the United Nations is open to all … peace-loving states.”
Article 10 “The General Assembly may discuss any questions … within the scope of the present Charter … [and] make recommendations to the Members of the United Nations or to the Security Council.”
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
