Misplaced Pages

Charter of the United Nations

UN Charter
Drafted	14 August 1941
Signed	26 June 1945 (1945-06-26)
Location	San Francisco, California, United States
Effective	24 October 1945
Condition	Ratification by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of the other signatory states.
Parties	193
Depositary	International
Languages	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish
Full text
Charter of the United Nations at Wikisource

The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the United Nations. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the Secretariat, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Trusteeship Council.

The UN Charter mandates the UN and its member states to maintain international peace and security, uphold international law, achieve "higher standards of living" for their citizens, address "economic, social, health, and related problems", and promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion". As a charter and constituent treaty, its rules and obligations are binding on all members and supersede those of other treaties.

During the Second World War, the Allies—formally known as the United Nations—agreed to establish a new postwar international organization. Pursuant to this goal, the UN Charter was discussed, prepared, and drafted during the San Francisco Conference that began 25 April 1945, which involved most of the world's sovereign nations. Following two-thirds approval of each part, the final text was unanimously adopted by delegates and opened for signature on 26 June 1945; it was signed in San Francisco, United States, by 50 of the 51 original member countries.

The Charter entered into force on 24 October 1945, following ratification by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and a majority of the other signatories; this is considered the official starting date of the United Nations, with the first session of the General Assembly, representing all 51 initial members, opening in London the following January. The General Assembly formally recognized 24 October as United Nations Day in 1947, and declared it an official international holiday in 1971. With 193 parties, most countries have now ratified the Charter.

Summary

The Charter consists of a preamble and 111 articles grouped into 19 chapters.

The preamble consists of two principal parts. The first part contains a general call for the maintenance of peace and international security and respect for human rights. The second part of the preamble is a declaration in a contractual style that the governments of the peoples of the United Nations have agreed to the Charter and it is the first international document regarding human rights.

• 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 Chapter XVII describe arrangements for integrating the UN with established international law.
• Chapters XVIII and Chapter XIX provide for amendment and ratification of the Charter.

The following chapters deal 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;
• Chapter VIII makes it possible for regional arrangements to maintain peace and security within their own region;
• Chapters IX and Chapter X describe the UN's powers for economic and social cooperation, and the Economic and Social Council that oversee these powers;
• Chapters XII and Chapter XIII describe the Trusteeship Council, which oversaw decolonization;
• Chapters XIV and Chapter XV establish the powers of, respectively, the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Secretariat.
• Chapters XVI through Chapter XIX deal respectively with XVI: miscellaneous provisions, XVII: transitional security arrangements related to World War II, XVIII: the charter amendment process, and XIX: ratification of the charter

History

Background

The principles and conceptual framework of the United Nations were formulated incrementally through a series of conferences by the Allied nations during the Second World War. The Declaration of St James's Palace, issued in London on 12 June 1941, was the first joint statement of the declared goals and principles of the Allies, and the first to express a vision for a postwar world order. The Declaration called for the "willing cooperation of free peoples" so that "all may enjoy economic and social security".

Roughly two months later, the United States and the United Kingdom issued a joint, eight-point statement elaborating such goals, known as the Atlantic Charter. It set out (1) that these countries do not seek aggrandizement, (2) that no territorial changes be made against the wishes of the people, (2) the right to self-determination for all peoples, (3) restoration of self-government to those deprived of it, (4) furtherance of access for all states to trade and raw materials "needed for their economic prosperity", (5) global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for the world, (5) the "destruction of the Nazi tyranny" and freedom from fear and want, (7) freedom of the seas, and (8) "abandonment of the use of force" by disarming nations of "aggression" and establishing a wider Anglo-American world "security system" under mutual disarmament after the war. Many of these principles would inspire or form part of the UN Charter.

The following year, on 1 January 1942, representatives of thirty nations formally at war with the Axis powers—led by the "Big Four" powers of China, the Soviet Union, the U.K., and the U.S.—signed the Declaration by United Nations, which formalized the anti-Axis alliance and reaffirmed the purposes and principles of the Atlantic Charter. The following day, representatives of twenty-two other nations added their signatures. The term "United Nations" became synonymous with the Allies for the duration of the war, and was considered the formal name under which they were fighting. The Declaration by United Nations formed the basis of the United Nations Charter; virtually all nations that acceded to it would be invited to take part in the 1945 San Francisco Conference to discuss and prepare the Charter.

On 30 October 1943, the Declaration of the Four Nations, one of the four Moscow Declarations, was signed by the foreign ministers of the Big Four, calling for the establishment of a "general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving states, and open to membership by all such states, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security." This was the first formal announcement that a new international organization was being contemplated to replace the moribund League of Nations.

Pursuant to the Moscow Declarations, from 21 August 1944 to 7 October 1944, the U.S. hosted the Dumbarton Oaks Conference to develop a blueprint for what would become the United Nations. Many of the rules, principles, and provisions of the UN Charter were proposed during the conference, including the structure of the UN system; the creation of a "Security Council" to prevent future war and conflict; and the establishment of other "organs" of the organization, such as the General Assembly, International Court of Justice, and Secretariat. The conference was led by the Big Four, with delegates from other nation participating in the consideration and formulation of these principles. At the Paris peace conference in 1919, it was Prime Minister Jan Smuts of South Africa and Lord Cecil of the United Kingdom who came up with the structure of the League of Nations with the League being divided into a League Assembly consisting of all the member states and a League Council consisting of the great powers. The same design that Smuts and Cecil had devised for the League of Nations was copied for the United Nations with a Security Council made up of the great powers and a General Assembly of the UN member states.

The subsequent Yalta Conference in February 1945 between the U.S., U.K., and Soviet Union resolved the lingering debate regarding the voting structure of the proposed Security Council, calling for a "Conference of United Nations" in San Francisco on 25 April 1945 to "prepare the charter of such an organization, along the lines proposed in the formal conversations of Dumbarton Oaks."

Drafting and adoption

The San Francisco Conference, formally the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), began as scheduled on 25 April 1945 with the goal of drafting a charter that would create a new international organization. The Big Four, which sponsored the event, invited all forty-six signatories to the Declaration by United Nations. Conference delegates invited four more nations: the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Argentina and recently liberated Denmark.

The conference was perhaps the largest international gathering up to that point, with 850 delegates, along with advisers and organizers, for a total of 3,500 participants. An additional 2,500 representatives from media and various civil society groups were also in attendance. Plenary meetings involving all delegates were chaired on a rotational basis by the lead delegates of the Big Four. Several committees were formed to facilitate and address different aspects of the drafting process, with over 400 meetings convened in the subsequent weeks. Following multiple reviews, debates, and revisions, a final full meeting was held on 25 June 1945 with the final proposed draft posed to attendees. Following unanimous approval, the Charter was signed by delegates the following day in Veterans' Memorial Hall.

The United States Senate, as part of the 79th United States Congress, ratified the Charter by a vote of 89–2 on 28 July 1945. By 24 October 1945, enough nations had ratified the Charter to officially bring the United Nations into existence.

Provisions

Preamble

The Preamble to the treaty reads as follows:

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

• to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
• to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
• to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

AND FOR THESE ENDS

• to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
• to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
• to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
• to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS.

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

Although the Preamble is an integral part of the Charter, it does not set out any of the rights or obligations of member states; its purpose is to serve as an interpretative guide for the provisions of the Charter through the highlighting of some of the core motives of the founders of the organization.

Chapter I: Purposes and Principles

Article 1

The Purposes of the United Nations are

1. To maintain international peace and security, to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

Article 2

The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles:

1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.
2. All Members, in order to ensure, to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.
3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
5. All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
6. The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.
7. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.

Chapter II: Membership

Chapter II of the United Nations Charter deals with membership of the United Nations organization

Chapter III: Organs

1. There are established as principal organs of the United Nations: a General Assembly, a Security Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Trusteeship Council, an International Court of Justice, and a Secretariat.
2. Such subsidiary organs as may be found necessary may be established in accordance with the present Charter.

Chapter IV: The General Assembly

Chapter V: The Security Council

COMPOSITION

Article 23

1. The Security Council shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations. 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 shall be permanent members of the Security Council. The General Assembly shall elect ten other Members of the United Nations to be non-permanent members of the Security Council, due regard being specially paid, in the first instance to the contribution of Members of the United Nations to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the Organization, and also to equitable geographical distribution.
2. The non-permanent members of the Security Council shall be elected for a term of two years. In the first election of the non-permanent members after the increase of the membership of the Security Council from eleven to fifteen, two of the four additional members shall be chosen for a term of one year. A retiring member shall not be eligible for immediate re-election.
3. Each member of the Security Council shall have one representative.

FUNCTIONS and POWERS

Article 24

1. In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the United Nations, its Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf.
2. In discharging these duties the Security Council shall act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. The specific powers granted to the Security Council for the discharge of these duties are laid down in Chapters VI, VII, VIII, and XII.
3. The Security Council shall submit annual and, when necessary, special reports to the General Assembly for its consideration.

Article 25

The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.

Article 26

In order to promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic resources, the Security Council shall be responsible for formulating, with the assistance of the Military Staff Committee referred to in Article 47, plans to be submitted to the Members of the United Nations for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments.

VOTING

Article 27

1. Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote.
2. Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members.
3. Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.

PROCEDURE

Article 28

1. The Security Council shall be so organized as to be able to function continuously. Each member of the Security Council shall for this purpose be represented at all times at the seat of the Organization.
2. The Security Council shall hold periodic meetings at which each of its members may, if it so desires, be represented by a member of the government or by some other specially designated representative.
3. The Security Council may hold meetings at such places other than the seat of the Organization as in its judgment will best facilitate its work.

Article 29

The Security Council may establish as such subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions.

Article 30

The Security Council shall adopt its own rules of the procedure, including the method of selecting its president.

Article 31

Any Member of the United Nations which is not a member of the Security Council may participate, without vote, in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council whenever the latter considers that the interests of that Member are specially affected.

Article 32

Any Member of the United Nations which is not a member of the Security Council or any state which is not a Member of the United Nations, if it is a party to a dispute under consideration by the Security Council, shall be invited to participate, without vote, in the discussion relating to the dispute. The Security Council shall lay down such conditions as it deems just for the participation of a state which is not a Member of the United Nations.

Chapter VI: Peaceful Settlement of Disputes

Chapter VII: Action with respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression

Chapter VII includes the right to self-defence.

Chapter VIII: Regional Arrangements

Chapter IX: International Economic and Social Co-operation

Chapter X: The Economic and Social Council

Chapter XI: Declaration regarding Non-Self-Governing Territories

Chapter XII: International Trusteeship System

Chapter XIII: The Trusteeship Council

Chapter XIV: The International Court of Justice

Chapter XV: The Secretariat

• It comprises the Secretary-General and such other staff as the organization may require.
• It provides services to the other organs of the United Nations, such as the General Assembly, the S.C., the ECOSOC, and the trusteeship council, as well as their subsidiary bodies.
• The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of security council.
• The staff of the secretariat is appointed by the Secretary-General according to the regulations laid down by the General Assembly.
• The secretariat is located at the headquarters of the U.N in New York.
• The secretariat also includes the regional commission secretariat at Baghdad, Bangkok, Geneva and Santiago.

Functions of the Secretariat

1. preparation of report and other documents containing information, analysis, historical background research finding, policy suggestions and so forth, to facilitate deliberations and decision making by other organs.
2. to facilitate legislative organs and their subsidiary bodies.
3. provision of meeting services for the General Assembly and other organs
4. provision of editorial, translation and document reproduction services for the issuance of UN documents in different language.
5. conduct of studies and provision of information to various member states in meeting challenge in various fields
6. preparation of statistical publication, information bulletin and analytical work which the General Assembly has decided
7. organization of conferences experts group meetings and seminar on topics of concern to the international community
8. provision of technical assistance to develop countries.
9. understanding of service mission to countries, areas or location as authorized by the General Assembly or the security

Chapter XVI: Miscellaneous Provisions

Chapter XVII: Transitional Security Arrangements

Chapter XVIII: Amendments

The General Assembly has the power to amend the UN Charter. Amendments adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Assembly need to be ratified by two-thirds of the Member-States, including all the Permanent Members of the Security Council.

Chapter XIX: Ratification and Signature

Provided that the Charter would enter into force once ratified by the Permanent Five members of the United Nations Security Council and a majority of the other signatory states, and set forth related procedures, such as providing certified copies to ratifying governments.

See also

• Command responsibility
• History of United Nations peacekeeping
• Nuremberg Principles
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Footnotes

1. Poland's provisional government, which was not represented at the conference, signed it two months later.
2. Republic of China, after 1949 located in Taiwan; replaced on 25 October 1971 by the People's Republic of China
3. Provisional Government; later replaced by the Fourth Republic and then the Fifth Republic.
4. Replaced by the Russian Federation in 1991.
5. Some sources, such as the United Nations, refer to Declaration of the Four Nations as the "Moscow Declaration"
6. Poland, despite having signed the Declaration by United Nations, did not attend the conference because there was no consensus on the formation of the postwar Polish government. Therefore, a space was left blank for the Polish signature. The new Polish government was formed after the conference (28 June) and signed the United Nations Charter on 15 October, making Poland one of the founding countries of the United Nations.

References

1. ^ "Introductory Note". United Nations Organization. Archived from the original on 9 May 2005. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
2. Christopher N. J. Roberts (June 2017). "William H. Fitzpatrick's Editorials on Human Rights (1949)". Quellen zur Geschichte der Menschenrechte [Sources on the History of Human Rights]. Human Rights Working Group in the 20th Century. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
3. "Chapter XVI: Miscellaneous Provisions". Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
4. ^ "1944–1945: Dumbarton Oaks and Yalta". www.un.org. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
5. ^ "1945: The San Francisco Conference". www.un.org. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
6. ^ "1945: The San Francisco Conference". United Nations Organization. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
7. "United Nations Conference on International Organization Proceedings". Hoover Institution. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
8. "1941: The Declaration of St. James' Palace". www.un.org. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
9. "St. James Agreement; June 12, 1941". Avalon Project. Yale Law School. 2008.
10. "UN Yearbook". www.unmultimedia.org. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
11. The Atlantic Charter
12. "1942: Declaration of The United Nations". www.un.org. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
13. The name "United Nations" for the World War II allies was suggested by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States as an alternative to the name "Associated Powers". British Prime Minister Winston Churchill accepted it, noting that the phrase was used by Lord Byron in the poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (Stanza 35).
14. Townsend Hoopes; Douglas Brinkley (1997). FDR and the Creation of the U.N. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-06930-3.
15. "1943: Moscow and Teheran Conferences". www.un.org. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
16. Macmillan 2001, pp. 90–92.
17. Macmillan 2001, p. 84.
18. Carroll, Mitchell B. “Further Action on United Nations Charter.” American Bar Association Journal, vol. 31, no. 9, 1945, pp. 457–58. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25715332. Accessed 4 July 2024.
19. Gillette, Guy M., et al. “UNITED NATIONS CHARTER REVIEW.” Proceedings of the American Society of International Law at Its Annual Meeting (1921-1969), vol. 48, 1954, pp. 191–211. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25657319. Accessed 4 July 2024.
20. "Charter of the United Nations and Statute of the International Court of Justice" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
21. "Preamble". United Nations. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
22. Report of the Rapporteur of Commission I/1 UNICO VI, pp 446–7, Doc. 944 I/1/34(1).
23. Chapter VII, Article 51 of the UN Charter

Further reading

• Buhite, Russell (1986). Decisions at Yalta: An Appraisal of Summit Diplomacy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0842022686.
• Macmillan, Margaret (2001). Paris 1919 Six Months That Changed the World. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780307432964.

External links

• Full Text on the UN Website
• Scanned copy of the signed charter
• Original ratifications Archived 27 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
• Ratifications/admissions under Article IV Archived 29 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
• Alger Hiss recounts transporting the UN Charter after its signing.
• Procedural history note and audiovisual material on the Charter of the United Nations in the Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
• Declaration of Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation Among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations
• Lecture by Annebeth Rosenboom entitled Practical Aspects of Treaty Law: Treaty Registration under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations in the Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
• Christopher N.J. Roberts (June 2017). "William H. Fitzpatrick's Editorials on Human Rights (1949)". Quellen zur Geschichte der Menschenrechte . Human Rights Working Group in the 20th Century.

v t e United Nations
Secretary-General: António Guterres Deputy Secretary-General: Amina J. Mohammed General Assembly President: Dennis Francis
UN System	Charter Preamble Principal organs Secretariat Secretary-General selections Deputy Secretary-General Under-Secretary-General General Assembly President International Court of Justice Statute Security Council Elections Members President Reform Veto power Economic and Social Council President Trusteeship Council Funds, programmes, and other bodies Culture of Peace IAEA IPCC ITC MINURSO OHCHR SCSL UNAIDS UNCDF UNCITRAL UNCTAD UNDGC UNDP UNDPO peacekeeping UNEP OzonAction UNEP/GRID-Arendal UNEP-WCMC UNFPA UN-HABITAT UNHCR UNHRC UNICEF UNICRI UNIDIR UNITAR UN-Oceans UNODC UNOPS UNOSAT UNRISD UNRWA UNSDG UNSSC UNU UNU-CRIS UNU-OP UNV UN Women WFP Specialized agencies FAO ICAO IFAD ILO IMF IMO IOM ITU UN Tourism UNESCO UNIDO UPU WFEO WHO WIPO WMO World Bank Group IBRD IDA IFC Secretariat offices and departments Headquarters Conference Building General Assembly Building Secretariat Building Department of Economic and Social Affairs Department of Peace Operations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Dag Hammarskjöld Library Department for Safety and Security Division for Palestinian Rights Office at Geneva Palace of Nations Office at Nairobi Office at Vienna Office for Disarmament Affairs Office for Outer Space Affairs Office for Partnerships Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Office of Internal Oversight Services Office of Legal Affairs Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States Office of Counter-Terrorism Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Office on Sport for Development and Peace UN organizations by location
Members and observers	Founding members Full members Security Council Permanent members Permanent representatives to the UN list General Assembly Observers European Union
History	Preceding years International Telegraph Union Universal Postal Union Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 Permanent Court of Arbitration International Office of Public Hygiene League of Nations archives covenant organization member states Preparatory years Declaration of St James's Palace (1941) Atlantic Charter (1941) Declaration by United Nations (1942) Moscow Conference (1943) Tehran Conference (1943) Bretton Woods Conference (1944) Dumbarton Oaks Conference (1944) Yalta Conference (1945) Conference on International Organization (1945) Genocide Convention (1948) Activities Enlargement Peacekeeping missions timeline governed territories UNPOL Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafting Human Rights Day World Heritage Convention Convention on the Rights of the Child committee Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Indigenous Caucus Sustainable Development Goals Declaration on the Rights of Peasants
Resolutions	Security Council vetoes General Assembly 66th 67th Security Council Cyprus Iran Iraq Israel Lebanon Nagorno-Karabakh North Korea Palestine Syria Western Sahara Yemen
Elections	Secretary-General 2021 2016 International Court of Justice 2023 2022 2021 2020 2017 2014 2011 General Assembly President (2016) Security Council (2016)
Related	Outline Advisory Committee of Local Authorities Art Collection Security Council mural Block By Block Bretton Woods system Celestial Sphere Woodrow Wilson Memorial CCISUA Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Criticism Delivering as One Drug control treaties Expulsion from the United Nations Ex Tempore Federal Credit Union FICSA Flag Honour Flag Four Nations Initiative Global Compact International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons International Day of Peace International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World International Narcotics Control Board International School Hanoi Interpretation Service Laissez-passer Memorial Cemetery Korea Military Staff Committee Millennium Declaration Millennium Summit Model United Nations Official languages Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Postal Administration Ralph Bunche Park Reform SDG Publishers Compact Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners Treaty Series Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons UN Mandate UN Sacco UN Special UNICEF club United Nations Day United Nations in popular culture United Nations Medal United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights United Nations Radio United Nations television film series University for Peace Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge Withdrawal from the United Nations Women in peacekeeping World Federation of United Nations Associations
World portal

v t e International Criminal Court (ICC)
Legal texts	International Rome Statute (amendments) Agreement on Privileges and Immunities Agreements on the Enforcement of Sentences Geneva Conventions Charter of the United Nations UN resolutions General Assembly 3314 Security Council 1422 1487 1593 1970 National American Service-Members' Protection Act (United States) Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (Canada) International Criminal Court Act 2001 (United Kingdom) Twenty-third Amendment of the Constitution (Ireland) Völkerstrafgesetzbuch (Germany)
Crimes	Crimes of genocide Crimes against humanity War crimes Crimes of aggression
Organisation	States parties List of states parties Presidents and vice-presidents of the Assembly of States Parties Review Conference Court Presidency Judges (elections: 2003 2006 2007 Jan. 2009 Nov. 2009 2011 2013 2014 2015 2017 2020 2023) Prosecutor
Investigations	Official Afghanistan Bangladesh/Myanmar Democratic Republic of the Congo Darfur, Sudan Georgia Kenya Libya Mali Palestine Philippines Uganda Ukraine Venezuela Complaints Iraq Individuals Detainees Indictees
Other	Legal Tools Database American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the ICC Coalition for the ICC European Union and the ICC United States and the ICC World Day for International Justice

• Politics

• Charter of the United Nations
• 1945 in the United Nations
• June 1945 events
• October 1945 events
• International law
• Aggression in international law
• Political charters
• Treaties concluded in 1945
• Treaties entered into force in 1945
• Treaties of the Kingdom of Afghanistan
• Treaties of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania
• Treaties of Algeria
• Treaties of Andorra
• Treaties of the People's Republic of Angola
• Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda
• Treaties of Argentina
• Treaties of Armenia
• Treaties of Australia
• Treaties of Austria
• Treaties of Azerbaijan
• Treaties of the Bahamas
• Treaties of Bahrain
• Treaties of Bangladesh
• Treaties of Barbados
• Treaties of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
• Treaties of Belgium
• Treaties of Belize
• Treaties of the Republic of Dahomey
• Treaties of Bhutan
• Treaties of Bolivia
• Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Treaties of Botswana
• Treaties of Vargas-era Brazil
• Treaties of Brunei
• Treaties of the People's Republic of Bulgaria
• Treaties of Burkina Faso
• Treaties of Myanmar
• Treaties of Burundi
• Treaties of the Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970)
• Treaties of Cameroon
• Treaties of Canada
• Treaties of Cape Verde
• Treaties of the Central African Republic
• Treaties of Chad
• Treaties of Chile
• Treaties of the Republic of China (1912–1949)
• Treaties of Colombia
• Treaties of the Comoros
• Treaties of the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
• Treaties of the Republic of the Congo
• Treaties of Costa Rica
• Treaties of Ivory Coast
• Treaties of Croatia
• Treaties of Cuba
• Treaties of Cyprus
• Treaties of the Czech Republic
• Treaties of Czechoslovakia
• Treaties of Denmark
• Treaties of Djibouti
• Treaties of Dominica
• Treaties of the Dominican Republic
• Treaties of East Timor
• Treaties of Ecuador
• Treaties of the Kingdom of Egypt
• Treaties of El Salvador
• Treaties of Equatorial Guinea
• Treaties of Eritrea
• Treaties of Estonia
• Treaties of the Ethiopian Empire
• Treaties of Fiji
• Treaties of Finland
• Treaties of the French Fourth Republic
• Treaties of Gabon
• Treaties of the Gambia
• Treaties of Georgia (country)
• Treaties of West Germany
• Treaties of East Germany
• Treaties of Ghana
• Treaties of the Kingdom of Greece
• Treaties of Grenada
• Treaties of Guatemala
• Treaties of Guinea
• Treaties of Guinea-Bissau
• Treaties of Haiti
• Treaties of Honduras
• Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic
• Treaties of Iceland
• Treaties of British India
• Treaties of Indonesia
• Treaties of Pahlavi Iran
• Treaties of the Kingdom of Iraq
• Treaties of Ireland
• Treaties of Israel
• Treaties of Italy
• Treaties of Jamaica
• Treaties of Japan
• Treaties of Jordan
• Treaties of Kazakhstan
• Treaties of Kenya
• Treaties of Kiribati
• Treaties of North Korea
• Treaties of South Korea
• Treaties of Kuwait
• Treaties of Kyrgyzstan
• Treaties of the Kingdom of Laos
• Treaties of Latvia
• Treaties of Lebanon
• Treaties of Lesotho
• Treaties of Liberia
• Treaties of the Kingdom of Libya
• Treaties of Liechtenstein
• Treaties of Lithuania
• Treaties of Luxembourg
• Treaties of North Macedonia
• Treaties of Madagascar
• Treaties of Malawi
• Treaties of the Federation of Malaya
• Treaties of the Maldives
• Treaties of Mali
• Treaties of Malta
• Treaties of the Marshall Islands
• Treaties of Mauritania
• Treaties of Mauritius
• Treaties of Mexico
• Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia
• Treaties of Moldova
• Treaties of Monaco
• Treaties of the Mongolian People's Republic
• Treaties of Montenegro
• Treaties of Morocco
• Treaties of the People's Republic of Mozambique
• Treaties of Namibia
• Treaties of Nauru
• Treaties of Nepal
• Treaties of the Netherlands
• Treaties of New Zealand
• Treaties of Nicaragua
• Treaties of Niger
• Treaties of Nigeria
• Treaties of Norway
• Treaties of Oman
• Treaties of the Dominion of Pakistan
• Treaties of Palau
• Treaties of Panama
• Treaties of Papua New Guinea
• Treaties of Paraguay
• Treaties of Peru
• Treaties of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
• Treaties of the Polish People's Republic
• Treaties of the Estado Novo (Portugal)
• Treaties of Qatar
• Treaties of the Socialist Republic of Romania
• Treaties of Rwanda
• Treaties of Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Treaties of Saint Lucia
• Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Treaties of Samoa
• Treaties of San Marino
• Treaties of São Tomé and Príncipe
• Treaties of Saudi Arabia
• Treaties of Senegal
• Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro
• Treaties of Seychelles
• Treaties of Sierra Leone
• Treaties of Singapore
• Treaties of Slovakia
• Treaties of Slovenia
• Treaties of the Solomon Islands
• Treaties of the Somali Republic
• Treaties of the Union of South Africa
• Treaties of South Sudan
• Treaties of the Soviet Union
• Treaties of Francoist Spain
• Treaties of the Dominion of Ceylon
• Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1956–1969)
• Treaties of Suriname
• Treaties of Eswatini
• Treaties of Sweden
• Treaties of Switzerland
• Treaties of the Syrian Republic (1930–1963)
• Treaties of Tajikistan
• Treaties of Tanganyika
• Treaties of Thailand
• Treaties of Togo
• Treaties of Tonga
• Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago
• Treaties of Tunisia
• Treaties of Turkey
• Treaties of Turkmenistan
• Treaties of Tuvalu
• Treaties of Uganda
• Treaties of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
• Treaties of the United Arab Emirates
• Treaties of the United Kingdom
• Treaties of the United States
• Treaties of Uruguay
• Treaties of Uzbekistan
• Treaties of Vanuatu
• Treaties of Venezuela
• Treaties of Vietnam
• Treaties of South Yemen
• Treaties of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen
• Treaties of Yugoslavia
• Treaties of Zambia
• Treaties of the Sultanate of Zanzibar
• Treaties of Zimbabwe
• United Nations treaties
• Treaties establishing intergovernmental organizations
• 1945 in California
• Treaties extended to Curaçao and Dependencies
• Treaties extended to Portuguese Macau
• Treaties extended to British Hong Kong
• Treaties extended to Midway Atoll
• Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands
• Treaties extended to Greenland
• Treaties extended to Tokelau
• History of San Francisco