Suchergebnisse

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.

The International Court of Justice on April 11, 1949, gave its unanimous opinion that, in the event of an agent of the United Nations in the performance of his duties suffering injury in circumstances involving the responsibility of a Member (or a non-member) State, the United Nations as an organization has the capacity to bring an international claim against the responsible de jure or de facto government with a view to obtaining the reparation due in respect of the damage caused the United Nations. By a majority of eleven, with four judges dissenting, the Court also gave its opinion that the United Nations has the capacity to claim reparation due in respect of the damage caused to the victim or to persons entitled through him. The Court by ten votes to five gave its further opinion that when the United Nations as an organization is bringing a claim for reparation of damage caused to its agent, it can only do so by basing its claim upon a breach of obligations due to itself; and that respect for this rule will usually prevent a conflict between the action of the United Nations and such rights as the agent's national state may possess, and thus bring about a reconciliation between their claims.

The International Court of Justice, on May 28, 1948, gave an advisory-opinion concerning the conditions of admission of a state to membership in the United Nations. By nine votes to six it held:
that a Member of the United Nations which is called upon, in virtue of Article 4 of the Charter, to pronounce itself by its vote, either in the Security Council or in the General Assembly, on the admission of a State to membership in the United Nations, is not juridically entitled to make its consent to the admission dependent on conditions not expressly provided by paragraph 1 of the said Article;and that, in particular, a Member of the Organization cannot, while it recognizes the conditions set forth in that provision to be fulfilled by the State concerned, subject its affirmative vote to the additional condition that other States be admitted to membership in the United Nations together with that State.

The work which has been undertaken by the United Nations with regard to the encouragement of the progressive development and codification of international law finds its express origin in the duty given to the General Assembly by Article 13, paragraph 1 (a) of the Charter of the United Nations. It is therein laid down that: " 1 . The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of: (a) promoting international cooperation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification." At the Conference held at San Francisco, April 25 to June 25, 1945, at which the Charter of the United Nations wasdrawn up, the measures that should be taken for "revitalizing and strengthening" international law, shaken in the course of a quarter of a century by the upheaval of two World Wars, were considered by Committee II/2 of the Conference.