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General Assembly Resolutions on the Problem of Voting in the Security Council and on Pacific Settlement of Disputes**

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2017

Yuen-li Liang
Yuen-li Liang*
Affiliation:
Division for the Development and Codification of International Law, United Nations
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Extract

In continuation of the note on “Some Aspects of the Work of the Interim Committee of the General Assembly,” the present note will deal with the five resolutions adopted by the General Assembly during the second part of its third session, held between April 5 and May 19, 1949, on the problem of voting in the Security Council and on the study of methods for the promotion of international coöperation in the political field. These resolutions, which were adopted upon the recommendation of the Interim Committee, concern (1) the problem of voting in the Security Council; (2) restoration to the General Act of September 26, 1928, of its original efficacy; (3) appointment of a rapporteur or conciliator for a situation or dispute brought to the attention of the Security Council; (4) amendments to the rules of procedure of the General Assembly; and (5) creation of a panel for inquiry and conciliation.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , October 1949 , pp. 705 - 715
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1949

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Footnotes

**

Prepared at the editor’s request by Mr. H. C. Kiang of the Chinese Delegation to the United Nations. The opinions expressed in this note are the personal views of Mr. Kiang.

References

1 See this Journal, Vol. 42 (1948), pp. 887-900.

2 Ibid., pp. 887-895, and Vol. 43 (1949), pp. 303-311, for notes on discussions of the problem of voting in the Security Council by the Interim Committee and by the Ad Hoc Political Committee of the General Assembly (1948).

3 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 195, p. 67; resolution 267 (III), reproduced in General Assembly, 3rd Sess., Pt. II, Official Records, Resolutions (A/900), p. 7.

4 U. N. Doc. A/792.

5 U. N. Doc. A/578, reproduced in Reports of the Interim Committee (Jan. 5-Aug. 5, 1948), General Assembly, 3rd Sess., Official Records, Supp. No. 10.

6 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 192, pp. 12-15.

7 U. N. Doc. A/792:

“The General Assembly .... (1) recommends to the members of the Security Council that, without prejudice to any other decisions which the Security Council may deem procedural, the decisions set forth in the attached Annex be deemed procedural and that the members of the Security Council conduct their business accordingly; (2) recommends to the permanent members of the Security Council that they seek agreement among themselves upon what possible decisions by the Security Council they might forbear to exercise their veto when seven affirmative votes have already been cast in the Council, giving favourable consideration to the list of such decisions contained in conclusion 2, part IV of the Interim Committee; . . . .”

8 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 192, p. 26.

9 Ibid., pp. 23-25.

10 U. N. Doc. A/793.

11 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 195, pp. 67-77.

12 U. N. Docs. A/AC.18/18; A/AC.18/18/Add.1; A/AC.18/54. The text of the General Act and the texts of resolutions adopted on the same date by the League of Nations Assembly and relating to the pacific settlement of international disputes, non-aggression and mutual assistance are reproduced in U. N. Does. A/AC.18/19 and A/AC.18/43. The United Nations Secretariat prepared a memorandum on the history and analysis of the General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes of Sept. 26, 1928: U. N. Doc. A/AC.18/56.

13 The twenty-two states are : Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom; and The Netherlands and Sweden which acceded only to Chapters I (conciliation), II (judicial settlement) and IV (general provisions). Of these twenty-two states, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia and Switzerland are not Members of the United Nations. Spain acceded to the Act on Sept. 16, 1930, but denounced it on April 1, 1939.

14 See League of Nations Docs. C.667.M.225.1927.IX; C.165.M.50.1928.IX; and A.86 (1). 1928. IX.

15 See British State Papers, Cmd. 3803, Misc. No. 8 (1931), and Cmd. 5947, Misc. No. 2 (1939).

16 U. N. Doc. A/605, Annex I, reproduced in Reports of the Interim Committee, General Assembly, 3rd Sess., Official Records, Supp. No. 10, pp. 28-34.

17 U. N. General Assembly, 3rd Sees., Pt. I, Official Records, Ad Hoc Political Committee, Summary Records of Meetings, 1948, p. 314.

18 Ibid., p. 318.

19 Ibid., p. 311.

20 Ibid., p. 319.

21 Ibid., p. 327.

22 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 197, pp. 56-65.

23 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 198, pp. 8-12.

24 Ibid., pp. 23-25.

25 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 199, pp. 28-45.

26 U. N. Doc. Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, 1st Sess., Pt. I (A/64), p. 35.

27 U. N. Doc. A/605.

28 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 199, p. 97; resolution 268 (III) A in General Assembly, 3rd Sess., Pt. II, Official Records, Resolutiona (A/900), pp. 10-11.

29 U. N. Doc. A/605.

30 U. N. Doc. A/AC.18/39.

31 Rule 6 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Security Council (U. N. Doc. S/96/Rev.3) reads: “The Secretary-General shall immediately bring to the attention of all representatives on the Security Council all communications from States, organs of the United Nations, or the Secretary-General concerning any matter for the consideration of the Security Council in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.”

32 For text of draft resolution, see U. N. Docs. A/605, Annex III, and A/809, pp. 4-5.

33 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 197, p. 67.

34 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 199, pp. 98-100; resolution 268 (III) B, reproduced in General Assembly, 3rd Sees., Pt. II, Official Records, Resolutions (A/900), p. 12.

35 U. N. Doc. A/605, pp. 29 and 34.

36 U. N. Doc. A/AC.24/SR.29, pp. 4-7.

37 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 199, pp. 101-105; resolution 268 (III) C, reproduced in General Assembly, 3rd Sess., Pt. II, Official Records, Resolutions (A/900), p. 13.

38 U. N. Docs. A/AC.18/24 and A/AC.18/60.

39 U. N. Doc. A/AC.24/SR-29, p. 8.

40 Ibid., p. 5.

41 Ibid., p. 7.

42 Ibid.

43 U. N. Doc. A/P.V. 199, pp. 106-110; resolution 268 (III) D, reproduced in General Assembly, 3rd Sess., Pt. II, Official Records, Resolutions (A/900), pp. 13-16.

44 Ibid., pp. 14-16.

45 This resolution established the Interim Committee and laid down its terms of reference. General Assembly, 2nd Sess., Official Records, Resolutiong (A/519), pp. 15-16.

46 U. N. Doc. A/605, Part IV, B, reproduced in Reports of the Interim Committee, General Assembly, 3rd Sess., Official Records, Supp. No. 10, p. 33.

47 U. N. General Assembly, 3rd Sess., Pt. I, Official Records, Resolutions (A/810), p. 29.

48 U. N. Doc. A/AC.18/SC.6/1.

49 U. N. Doc. A/AC.18/91, pp. 4-5.

50 U. N. Docs. A/AC.18/63; A/AC.18/SC.2/3; and A/AC.18/73/Add. 1. The writer wishes to note, by way of correction, that recommendation (2) of the Ecuadorian proposal as referred to in the note on “Some Aspects of the Work of the Interim Committee of the General Assembly” in this Journal, Vol. 42 (1948), p. 899, should read as follows:

“Members of the United Nations be recommended to include in their bilateral or regional agreements dealing with pacific settlement of disputes the principle that the International Court of Justice may decide the issue of domestic jurisdiction at the request of one of the parties; and the Interim Committee be asked to consider the advisability of including in any new general convention a provision to the same effect.” (Italics added.)

51 U. N. Doc. A/AC.18/15.

52 U. N. Doc. A/AC./18/30.

53 U. N. Docs. A/AC.18/24; A/AC.18/48, Annex D, and A/AC.18/SC.2/2.

54 U. N. Doc. A/AC.18/SR.32.