United Nations Charter

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UN Charter signing ceremony.

Opened for signature

June 26, 1945 in San Francisco

Entered into force

October 24, 1945

Conditions for entry into force

Ratification by the Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America, and by a majority of the other signatory states.

Parties

192

The United Nations Charter is the treaty which forms and establishes the international organization called the United Nations. While this document is often misconstrued as a constitution it is, in fact, an agreement between states and not a compact among the individual peoples to create a government. It was signed at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco on June 26, 1945 by 50 of the 51 original member countries (Poland, the other original member, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later). It entered into force on October 24, 1945, after being ratified by the five founding members—the Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and a majority of the other signatories.

As a Charter it is a constituent treaty, and all members are bound by its articles. Furthermore, the Charter states that obligations to the United Nations prevail over all other treaty obligations[1]. Most countries in the world have now ratified the Charter. Though one notable exception is the Holy See, which has chosen to remain a permanent observer state and therefore is not a full signatory to the Charter.

1 Organization of the document
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Organization of the document

An "Introductory Note" details the actual amendments to the Charter.

The Charter itself consists of a preamble, broadly patterned after the preamble of the Constitution of the United States, and a series of articles divided into chapters.

Chapter I sets forth the purposes of the United Nations, including the important provisions of the maintenance of international peace and security.
Chapter II defines the criteria for membership in the United Nations.
Chapters III-XV, the bulk of the document, describe the organs and institutions of the UN and their respective powers.
Chapters XVI and XVII describes arrangements for integrating the UN with established international law.
Chapters XVIII and XIX provide for amendment and ratification of the Charter.

The most important chapters are those dealing with the enforcement powers of UN bodies:

Chapter VI describes the Security Council's power to investigate and mediate disputes;
Chapter VII describes the Security Council's power to authorize economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions, as well as the use of military force, to resolve disputes;
Chapters IX and X describe the UN's powers for economic and social cooperation, and the Economic and Social Council that oversees these powers;
Chapters XII and XIII describe the Trusteeship Council, which oversaw decolonization;
Chapters XIV and XV establish the powers of, respectively, the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Secretariat.

[edit] See also

Nuremberg Principles
Implications of the Charter for the Bush Doctrine
Civic Center, San Francisco, California - Where the Charter was drafted and signed.

[edit] References

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