Section 5p. 5

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME I

Charter of the United Nations

Introductory Note

The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26

June 1945, in San Francisco , at the conclusion of the

United

Nations

Conference

on

International

Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945.

The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an

integral part of the Charter.

Amendments to Articles 23, 27 and 61 of the Charter were

adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 1963

and

came

into

force

on

31 August 1965. A further

amendment to Article 61 was adopted by the General

Assembly on 20 December 1971, and came into force on

24

September

1973.

An

amendment

to

Article

109,

adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1965,

came into force on 12 June 1968.

The amendment to Article 23 enlarges the membership

of

the

Security

Council from eleven to fifteen. The

amended

Article

27

provides

that

decisions

of

the

Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by

an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven) and

on all other matters by an affirmative vote of nine

members

(formerly

seven),

including

the concurring

votes of the five permanent members of the Security

Council.

The amendment to Article 61, which entered into force on

31

August

1965,

enlarged

the

membership

of

the

Economic

and

Social

Council

from

eighteen

to

twenty-seven.

The

subsequent

amendment

to

that

Article, which entered into force on 24 September 1973,

further increased the membership of the Council from

twenty-seven to fifty-four.

The amendment to Article 109, which relates to the first

paragraph

of

that

Article,

provides

that

a

General

Conference

of

Member

States

for

the

purpose

of

reviewing the Charter may be held at a date and place to

be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the

General Assembly and by a vote of any nine members

(formerly seven) of the Security Council. Paragraph 3 of

Article 109, which deals with the consideration of a

possible review conference during the tenth regular

session of the General Assembly, has been retained in its

original form in its reference to a "vote, of any seven

members of the Security Council", the paragraph having

been acted upon in 1955 by the General Assembly, at its

tenth regular session, and by the Security Council.

Preamble

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.

CHAPTER I: PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES

Article 1

The Purposes of the United Nations are:

1.

To maintain international peace and security, and

to that end: 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

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