The Principal Organs Of The United Nations

(1) The General Assembly

The General Assembly is made up of 191 Member States. The States and the dates on which they became Members are listed in Press Release ORG/1360 issued 4 October 2002. According to the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly may:- 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 nations;- Receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs;- 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.

(2) The Security Council

The Security Council has 15 members. The United Nations Charter designates five States as permanent members and the General Assembly elects 10 other members for two-year terms. The term of office for each non-permanent member of the Council ends on 31 December of the year indicated in parentheses next to its name.The five permanent members of the Security Council are China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.The 10 non-permanent members of the Council in 2005 are Algeria (2005), Argentina (2006), Benin (2005), Brazil (2005), Denmark (2006), Greece (2006), Japan (2006), Romania (2005), Philippines (2005) and the United Republic of Tanzania (2006). Functions and Powers of this organ is to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations;to investigate any dispute or situation which mightlead to international friction;to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement;to formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments;to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken;to call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression;to take military action against an aggressor;to recommend the admission of new Members;to exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations in "strategic areas";to recommend to the GeneralAssembly the appointment of the Secretary-General and, together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court of Justice.

(3) The Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council has 54 members, elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly. The term of office for each member expires on 31 December of the year indicated in parentheses next to its name. In 2005, the Council is composed of the following:Albania (2007), Armenia (2006), Australia (2007), Azerbaijan (2005), Bangladesh (2006), Belgium (2006), Belize (2006), Benin (2005), Brazil (2007), Canada (2006), Chad (2007), China (2007), Colombia (2006), Congo (2005), Costa Rica (2007), Cuba (2005), Democratic Republic of the Congo (2007), Denmark (2007), Ecuador (2005), France (2005), Germany (2005), Guinea (2007), Iceland (2007), India (2007), Indonesia (2006), Ireland (2005), Italy (2006), Jamaica (2005), Japan (2005), Kenya (2005), Lithuania (2007), Malaysia (2005), Mauritius (2006), Mexico (2007), Mozambique (2005), Namibia (2006), Nicaragua (2005), Nigeria (2006), Pakistan (2007), Panama (2006), Poland (2006), Republic of Korea (2006), Russian Federation (2007), Saudi Arabia (2005), Senegal (2005), South Africa (2007), Spain (2005), Thailand (2007), Tunisia (2006), Turkey (2005), United Arab Emirates (2006), United Kingdom (2007), United Republic of Tanzania (2006), United States (2006). Its function is to exert efforts toward :1. Higher standaards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development;2. Solutions of international economic, social, health and related problems, and international, cultural and educational cooperation , and;3. Universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language and religion.

(4) The Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council is made up of the five permanent members of the Security Council -– China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States. With the independence of Palau, the last remaining UnitedNationsTrustTerritory, the Council formally suspended operations on 1 November 1994. The Council amended its rules of procedure to drop the obligation to meet annually and agreed to meet as the 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. The organ charged with the duty of assisting the Security Council and General AssemblyThe United Nations Trusteeship Council, one of the principal organs of the United Nations, was established to help ensure that non-self-governing territories were administered in the best interests of the inhabitants and of international peace and security. The trust territories – most of them former mandates of the League of Nations or territories taken from nations defeated at the end of World War II – have all now attained self-government or independence, either as separate nations or by joining neighbouring independent countries. The last was Palau, which became a member state of the United Nations in December 1994.

(5) The International Court Justice

The International Court of Justice has 15 Judges, elected by both the General Assembly and the Security Council for nine-year terms. The current composition of the Court, with terms expiring on 5 February of the year in parentheses, is as follows: Ronny Abraham (France) (2009); Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan) (2009); Nabil Elaraby (Egypt) (2006); Thomas Buergenthal (United States) (2006); Rosalyn Higgins (United Kingdom) (2009); Shi Jiuyong (China)(2012); Pieter H. Kooijmans (Netherlands)(2006); Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone) (2012); Hisashi Owada (Japan) (2012); Gonzalo Parra-Aranguren (Venezuela) (2009); Raymond Ranjeva (Madagascar) (2009); José Francisco Rezek (Brazil) (2006); Bruno Simma (Germany) (2012); Peter Tomka (Slovakia) (2012); and Vladlen S. Vereshchetin (Russian Federation)(2006). The functions of the court are to decide contentious cases and to render advisory opinions.(Contentious cases)Only States (States Members of the United Nations and other States which have become parties to the Statute of the Court or which have accepted its jurisdiction under certain conditions) may be parties to contentious cases.The Court is competent to entertain a dispute only if the States concerned have accepted its jurisdiction in one or more of the following ways:by entering into a special agreement to submit the dispute to the Court;by virtue of a jurisdictional clause, i.e., typically, when they are parties to a treaty containing a provision whereby, in the event of a dispute of a given type or disagreement over the interpretation or application of the treaty, one of them may refer the dispute to the Court;through the reciprocal effect of declarations made by them under the Statute whereby each has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory in the event of a dispute with another State having made a similar declaration. A number of these declarations, which must be deposited with the United Nations Secretary-General, contain reservations excluding certain categories of dispute.Proceedings may be instituted in one of two ways:through the notification of a special agreement: this document, which is of a bilateral nature, can be lodged with the Court by either of the States parties to the proceedings or by both of them. A special agreement must indicate the subject of the dispute and the parties thereto. Since there is neither an “applicant” State nor a “respondent” State, in the Court’s publications their names are separated by an oblique stroke at the end of the official title of the case, e.g., Benin/Niger;by means of an application: the application, which is of a unilateral nature, is submitted by an applicant State against a respondent State. It is intended for communication to the latter State and the Rules of Court contain stricter requirements with respect to its content. In addition to the name of the party against which the claim is brought and the subject of the dispute, the applicant State must, as far as possible, indicate briefly on what basis - a treaty or a declaration of acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction - it claims the Court has jurisdiction, and must succinctly state the facts and grounds on which it bases its claim. At the end of the official title of the case the names of the two parties are separated by the abbreviation “v.” (for the Latin versus), e.g., Nicaragua v. Colombia.

(6) The Secretariat

The chief administrative organ of the United Nation. Headed by Secretary General chosen by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.Secretary General is the highest representative of the United Nation. He/She is entitled to full diplomatic immunities and privileges. Secretary General has a fixed term of five years and he may be re-elected. His primary duty is to bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten international peace and security.Acts as secretary in all meeting of th General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and Trusteeship Council (any may perform other functions as may be assigned to him by theses organs)Prepares budget of the UN for submission to the General AssemblyProvides technical facilities and in general coordinates its vast administrative machinery.



There are also subsidiary organs which the Charter itself has created or which it allows to be created whenever necessary by the General Assembly, the Security Council or the Economic and Social Council.