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The Development of the Charter of the United Nations: the Present State

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The Present State of International Law and Other Essays

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Abstract

From the very beginning the International Law Association has shown an interest in the maintenance of international peace and in international institutions needed for that purpose. The original 1873 aims of the Association, apart from “the Reform and Codification of Public and Private International Law,” put an emphasis on “the settlement of disputes by arbitration”.1 It also announced in 1873 its intention to act “in such a manner as may appear the most favourable to the development of peaceful relations amongst nations, and to the progress of international civilisation”.2 In pursuance of these objectives, the International Law Association adopted a variety of resolutions on topics relating to the maintenance of peace, some of which might be highlighted here.

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References

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  24. Amendments to Articles 23 and 27 of the Charter were adopted by General Assembly Resolution 1991A (XVIII), of 17th December, 1963; amendment to Article 109 of the Charter was adopted by General Assembly Resolution 2101 (XX), of 2oth December, 1965. General Assembly, Official Records, Eighteenth Session, Suppl. No. 15 (1964), pp. 21–22; idem, Twentieth Session, Suppl. No. 14 (1966), p. 21 0-I I. The amendments to Articles 27 and 109 increased the majority required for Council decisions from seven to nine. The amendments to Articles 23 and 27 came into force in 1965; the amendment to Article 109 came into force in 1968$1557 United Nations Treaty Series (1966), p. 143; 638 idem (1968), p. 308.

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  25. Amendments to Article 61 of the Charter were adopted by General Assembly Resolutions 1991B (XVIII) and 2847 (XXVI), of 17th December, 1963 and loth December, 1971, respectively. General Assembly, Official Records, Eighteenth Session, Suppl. No. 15 (1964), p. 22; idem, Twenty-sixth Session, Suppl. No. 29 (1972), pp. 67–68. The first amendment came into force in 1965. 557 United Nations Treaty Series (1966), p. 143. The second amendment was not yet in force at the end of 1972; it will enter into force when ratified by two thirds of the Members of the United Nations, including all five permanent members of the Security Council.

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  41. One might go even one step further and consider that the Covenants on Human Rights approved by the General Assembly in 1966 constitute further interpretations of the Charter and the Universal Declaration. Having been adopted by a much larger number of votes than the Universal Declaration and with the approval of States which abstained in 1948, the substantive provisions of the Covenants might also be considered as parts of customary international law binding in principle on all States, only the procedural and jurisdictional provisions being restricted to the ratifying States.

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  49. The two principal agreements on an organization to regulate international trade, which did not come into force because the United States Senate refused to give its consent to ratification, were the Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization, of 28th March, 1948, and the Geneva Agreement on Organization for Trade Cooperation, of loth March, 1955. For texts, see U.S. Department of State, Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization (Pubi. 3202, Commercial Policy Series 114, September 1948), pp. 25–14o; 32 U.S. Department of State Bulletin (1955), pp. 579–82.

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Authors
  1. Louis B. Sohn
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  1. Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Maarten Bos (Past President of the Association) (Past President of the Association)

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Sohn, L.B. (1973). The Development of the Charter of the United Nations: the Present State. In: Bos, M. (eds) The Present State of International Law and Other Essays. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-4497-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-4497-3_4

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