UNITED NATIONS Shristi Khandelwal BASICS OF LAW Mon, Oct 26, 2020, at ,02:48 PM INTRODUCTION United Nations is an intergovernmental organisation which aims to maintain international peace and security develop friendly relation among nations and promote harmony in the actions of the nation. It is a most familiar and most powerful intergovernmental organisation which promotes peace and harmony between nations and their actions towards each other. The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. It is currently made up of 193 Member States. The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter. ORIGIN OF UNITED NATIONS The predecessor entity to the UN was the League of Nations which was established during World War I in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles (one of the peace treaties adopted at the end of WWI). The League of Nation’s goal was to encourage cooperation between countries and keep international peace and security. Unfortunately, the League of Nations failed to prevent World War II and, therefore, was seen as a failure. The term United Nations coined by the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was first used in the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their Governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers. The United Nations was born of perceived necessity, as a means of better arbitrating international conflict and negotiating peace than was provided for by the old League of Nations. The growing Second World War became the real impetus for the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union to begin formulating the original U.N. Declaration, signed by 26 nations in January 1942, as a formal act of opposition to Germany, Italy, and Japan, the Axis Powers. In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organisation to draw up the United Nations Charter. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became one of the original 51 Member States including 9 continental European states, 21 North, Central, and South American republics, 7 Middle Eastern states, 5 British Commonwealth nations, 2 Soviet republics (in addition to the USSR itself), 2 East Asian nations, and 3 African states. After the ratification of the UN Charter, the remaining members of the League of Nations met and unanimously voted to transfer all of its assets to the United Nations and formally dissolve the League of Nations. PURPOSE Article 1 of the UN charter states the purposes- 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; 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; 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; To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends. PRINCIPLE ORGANS OF UNITED NATIONS General Assembly- The General Assembly is composed of all the member nations. Its members meet annually at UN Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly can discuss and make recommendations on any matter within the scope of the charter. It has been called the "town meeting of the world." Its specific duties include- The election of the members of the Economic and Social Council, the board of the UN Industrial Development Organization, and some members of the Trusteeship Council. With the Security Council, it elects the judges of the International Court of Justice It appoints the UN secretary-general on the recommendation of the Security Council. It adopts rules governing the administration of the Secretariat. It also approves the United Nations budget. And it decides how much money each member nation should pay to run the organization. The Security Council- The UN Charter established a Security Council made up of the five nations that in 1945 were considered the most powerful in the world. The council's primary function was to maintain international peace and security. The five permanent member nations are the United States, the Russian Federation (in place of the former Soviet Union), the United Kingdom, France, and China. The UN Charter requires that the permanent members agree on all decisions made by the council, except for questions of procedure. If even one permanent member vetoes (rejects) a council decision, that decision is defeated. The Security Council also has ten non-permanent members. They serve 2-year terms. Each year the General Assembly elects five new nations, which ensures fair representation of all regions. The Economic And Social Council The Economic and Social Council works under the general guidance and control of the General Assembly. It is composed of 54 member nations that serve 3-year terms. (Eighteen are elected per year), with no permanent members. The council deals with major economic and social concerns like economic development, land reform, and control of narcotics, and coordinates the policies and activities of the United Nations and the various specialized agencies. The Trusteeship Council- The Trusteeship Council was established to help the General Assembly supervise the administration of territories placed under trusteeship. The council is composed of the five permanent members of the Security Council. It meets as circumstances demand. The International Court Of Justice- It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, composed of 15 judges. They are elected to 9-year terms by the General Assembly and the Security Council. The judges are chosen based on their qualifications rather than their nationalities. However, no nation may have more than one judge on the court at any given time. The International Court meets at The Hague in the Netherlands. It settles disputes submitted by nations for a final decision. And it gives advice to other UN organs and agencies. The Secretariat- It is the administrative organ of the UN headed by the secretary-general. The secretary-general appoints the staff of the Secretariat under rules approved by the General Assembly. In general, the UN Charter emphasizes that the Secretariat of the United Nations should be an international civil service. It should serve the interests of the organization and only those interests.