Lecture-4-International-Institution-II-17032024-091013pm.pptx

This presentation is regarding International institutions such as United Nations, International Court of Justice, General Assembly, Security Council.

1. BAHRIA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL TITLE OF COURSE public international law – II BY DR. SABA JAWED Dated: 13- 14 th March 2024

2. TODAY’S TOPIC IS “INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ”

3. OUTLINES OF TODAY’S SESSION Introduction United Nations Main Organs of UN The General Assembly - Composition - Voting Right - Functions and Powers Conclusion

4. INTRODUCTION League of Nations - An organisation conceived during First world war - Established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles - To promote International cooperation and to achieve peace and security - The League of Nation ceased its activities after failing to prevent the second world war as the

5. INTRODUCTION An intergovernmental Organisation, established on 24 th October 1945 to promote international-cooperation. At its founding, the UN had 51 members states, there are now 193. The UN headquarter is situated in New York, United States The Organisation is financed by assessed and voluntary contribution of its member states.

6. INTRODUCTION PRINCIPLES OF UN Principle of sovereign equality Principle of honoring of obligation Principle of Peaceful settlement Principle of non-use of force Principle for non-state member Principle of non-interference in domestic affairs of the state

7. Organs of United Nations The UN Charter establishes the UN's six principal organs:  The General Assembly (GA), T he Security Council (SC), T he  Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC ), T he  Trusteeship Council, T he International Court of Justice (ICJ), and T he UN Secretariat

8. Organs of United Nations 1. General Assembly (GA)  The  General Assembly  is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. All  193 Member States  of the UN are represented in the General Assembly, making it the only UN body with universal representation.  Each year, in September, the full UN membership meets in the General Assembly Hall in New York for the annual General Assembly session, and general debate, which many heads of state attend and address. Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly. Decisions on other questions are by simple majority.  The General Assembly, each year, elects a GA President to serve a one-year term of office . The first session convened 10 th January 1946 in the Methodist Central Hall Westminster, London and included representatives of 51 nations. 2. Security Council (SC ) The  Security Council  has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security.  It has 15 Members (5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members). Each Member has one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.  The Security Council has a Presidency, which rotates, and changes, every month.

9. Organs of United Nations 3. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) The   Economic and Social Council  is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as implementation of internationally agreed development goals. It serves as the central mechanism for activities of the UN system and its specialized agencies in the economic, social and environmental fields, supervising subsidiary and expert bodies.  It has  54 Members , elected by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. It is the United Nations’ central platform for reflection, debate, and innovative thinking on sustainable development . 4. Trusteeship Council The  Trusteeship Council  was established in 1945 by the UN Charter, under  Chapter XIII , to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories that had been placed under the administration of seven Member States, and ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government and independence. By 1994, all Trust Territories had attained self-government or independence.  The Trusteeship Council suspended operation on 1 November 1994. By a resolution adopted on 25 May 1994, the Council amended its rules of procedure to drop the obligation to meet annually and agreed to meet as occasion required -- by its decision or the decision of its President, or at the request of a majority of its members or the General Assembly or the Security Council. 

10. Organs of United Nations

11. Organs of United Nations 5. International Court of Justice (ICJ) The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the UN. The Court is charged with settling legal disputes between States and providing advisory opinions . The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in the Hague (Netherlands). The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. The International Court of Justice functions in accordance with its Statute.   6. UN Secretariat The  Secretariat  comprises the  Secretary-General  and tens of thousands of international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day work of the UN as mandated by the General Assembly and the Organization's other principal bodies. The Secretary-General is Chief Administrative Officer of the Organization, appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a five-year, renewable term. The Secretary-General is also a symbol of the Organization's ideals, and an advocate for all the world's peoples, especially the poor and vulnerable.

12. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY CHAPTER IV : THE GENERAL ASSEMBLE Number of representatives in the General Assembly (Article 9 of the Charter) Function and Powers ( Article 10-17) Voting (Article18 – 19) Procedure ( Article 20 -22)

13. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY COMPOSITION: The General Assembly is the parliamentary body of the UN Organisation and consists of representatives of all the member states, of which there are currently 193. All member states have the right to be represented in the General Assembly. Each delegation of member state are composed by the representative, advisers and the other members accredited by the government. Membership of the UN, as provided by article 4 of the Charter , is open to: “all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the organisation, are able and willing to carry out these obligations” and is effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

14. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Membership of the UN may be suspended under article 5 of the Charter by the General Assembly, upon the recommendation of the Security Council, where the member state concerned is the object of preventive or enforcement action by the Security Council. In the Construction of a Wall case, [ ICJ Reports, 2004, pp. 136, 148–9; 129 ILR, pp. 37, 66] the International Court emphasized that under article 24 the Security Council had a primary and not necessarily an exclusive competence with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security, while the constraint placed by article 12 on the powers of the Assembly to make recommendations for the peaceful adjustment of situations had been interpreted by evolving practice to permit both the Assembly and the Council to deal in parallel with the same matter concerning the maintenance of international peace and security, with the former often taking a broader view.

15. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY VOTING RIGHT: Voting in the Assembly is Governed by article 18, which stipulates that each member has one vote only , despite widespread Disparities in populations and resources between states . 

16. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY VOTING RIGHT: Votes taken on designated important issues – such as Maintenance of International peace and security, T he Election of new members, T he election of Security Council and Economic and Social Council members, and budgetary questions Suspension of new member of UN Expulsion of power Operations of trusteeship system require a two-thirds majority of Member States, but other questions are decided by a simple majority. That said, following informal consultations among Member States during which proposals are negotiated, the majority of resolutions are adopted without a vote.

17. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY The Assembly has established a variety of organs covering a wide range of topics and activities. It has six main committees that cover respectively disarmament and international security; economic and financial; social , humanitarian and cultural; special political and decolonization ; administrative and budgetary; and legal matters. In addition, there is a procedural General Committee dealing with agenda issues and a Credentials Committee. There are also two Standing Committees dealing with inter-sessional administrative and budgetary questions and contributions, and a number of subsidiary, ad hoc and other bodies dealing with relevant topics, including the International Law Commission, the UN Commission on International Trade Law, the UN Institute for Training and Research, the Council for Namibia and the UN Relief and Works Agency. The Human Rights Council, established in 2006, is elected by and reports to the Assembly.

18. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Functions and powers of the General Assembly The Assembly makes recommendations to States on international issues within its competence. It has also taken actions across all pillars of the United Nations, including with regard to political, economic, humanitarian, social and legal matters. In September 2015, the Assembly agreed on a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, contained in the outcome document of the United Nations Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda (resolution 70/1 entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development).  In 2022, the Assembly held a series of meetings to discuss the recommendations put forward by the Secretary-General in his report entitled “ Our Common Agenda ”, an agenda of action, designed to strengthen and accelerate multilateral agreements – particularly the 2030 Agenda – and make a tangible difference in people’s lives. According to the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly may: Consider and approve the United Nations budget and establish the financial assessments of Member States Elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council and the members of other United Nations councils and organs and, on the recommendation of the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General

19. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Functions and powers of the General Assembly Consider and make recommendations on the general principles of cooperation for maintaining international peace and security, including disarmament Discuss any question relating to international peace and security and, except where a dispute or situation is currently being discussed by the Security Council, make recommendations on it Discuss , with the same exception, and make recommendations on any questions within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and functions of any organ of the United Nations Initiate studies and make recommendations to promote international political cooperation, the development and codification of international law, the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and international collaboration in the economic, social, humanitarian, cultural, educational and health fields Make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation that might impair friendly relations among countries Consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs

20. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Functions and powers of the General Assembly The Assembly may also take action in cases of a threat to the peace, breach of peace or act of aggression, when the Security Council has failed to act owing to the negative vote of a permanent member. In such instances, according to its  “Uniting for peace” resolution of 3 November 1950 , the Assembly may consider the matter immediately and recommend to its Members collective measures to maintain or restore international peace and security. According to Prof. Leonard’s Classification of power and functions of General Assembly are as follows:

21. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY DELIBRATIVE FUNCTION: Functions regarding decisions, discussions, studies declarations and recommendations on different matters: - Matters within the scope of present charter - Relating to functions and powers of others organs Art 12 provides an exception to interfere with security council unless it request to do so General Assembly consider general principles of cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security General Assembly may call attention of Security Council to situations which are likely to endanger international peace and security (Art 11(3)) Art 13 General Assembly entrusted important responsibilities that can be initiate studies and make recommendations for purpose of: - promoting international cooperation in political field - Encouraging the progressive development of International Law and its codification - promote the international cooperation in economics, social, cultural, educational and health fields

22. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2. SUPERVISORY FUNCTION: The General Assembly supervises the functions of other principals organs & specialized agencies of UN: Particularly exercises sufficient control over Economic and Social Council, and Trusteeship council Security council and other organs of the UN have to submit the Annual Report to the General Assembly

23. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 3. FINANCIAL FUNCTION: Consider and approves the budget of UN Expenses of the organisation shall be borne by the members of General Assembly Examine and administrate the budgets made for the agencies of the UN with a view to making recommendations to the concerned agencies 4. CONSTITUENT FUNCTION : Take part in the amendments of the Charter The two-third of the majority of the members pass the charter It should be rectified in accordance with constitutional processes, by two- third of the majority of the members

24. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 5. ELECTIVE FUNCTION: Admission of new state of UN - Decision of member by two-third of the majority can lead to Election of new state and also suspension, expulsion or deprivation of its vote due to preventive action taken by Security Council, Violation of the Laws of Charter and failure to payment of financial contribution. Election of the new member of organ of UN - Elect 10 non- permanent member of Security Council - Elect 54 member of Economic & Social Council - Elect some members of Trusteeship Council - Take part in Election of Judge of International Court of Law - Take part in appointment of Secretary Council

25. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RULES OF PROCEDURE I. SESSIONS REGULAR SESSIONS Opening date Rule 1 The General Assembly shall meet every year in regular session commencing on the Tuesday of the third week in September, counting from the first week that contains at least one working day. Closing date Rule 2 On the recommendation of the General Committee, the General Assembly shall, at the beginning of each session, fix a closing date for the session .

26. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RULES OF PROCEDURE I. SESSIONS REGULAR SESSIONS Place of meeting Rule 3 The General Assembly shall meet at the Headquarters of the United Nations unless convened elsewhere in pursuance of a decision taken at a previous session or at the request of a majority of the Members of the United Nations. Rule 4 Any Member of the United Nations may, at least one hundred and twenty days before the date fixed for the opening of a regular session, request that the session be held elsewhere than at the Headquarters of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall immediately communicate the request, together with his recommendations, to the other Members of the United Nations. If within thirty days of the date of this communication a majority of the Members concur in the request, the session shall be held accordingly.

27. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RULES OF PROCEDURE I. SESSIONS REGULAR SESSIONS Notification of session Rule 5 The Secretary-General shall notify the Members of the United Nations , at least sixty days in advance, of the opening of a regular session . Temporary adjournment of session Rule 6 The General Assembly may decide at any session to adjourn temporarily and resume its meetings at a later date.

28. THE SECURITY COUNCIL TASK : 1 WRITE DOWN THE COMPOSITION AND PROCEDRURE OF VOTING IN SECURITY COUNCIL