Summary
General Assembly resolution 377 A (V) of 3 November 1950, entitled “Uniting for Peace”, adopted at the Assembly’s 302nd plenary meeting, as quoted and analysed in the Government of Israel’s written statement of January 2004: the resolution under which the Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly was convened in April 1997, and whose operative paragraph 1 Israel submits lays down a condition precedent — a Security Council failure, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, to exercise its primary responsibility — that was not met in December 2003 (Letter of 29 January 2004 and Written Statement of the Government of Israel on Jurisdiction and Propriety, PDF p.72-75).
Details
- Operative paragraph 1, as quoted in the statement, resolves that “if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security” in a case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations for collective measures, and may meet in emergency special session within 24 hours of the request if not in session at the time (PDF p.73, p.86).
- Operative paragraph 2 adopts amendments to the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, and operative paragraph 3 establishes a Peace Observation Commission usable by the Assembly only on the inviting State’s invitation or consent and only if the Council is not exercising its Charter functions on the matter (PDF p.74).
- The statement emphasises five features: the Council’s primary responsibility is expressly recognised, the Assembly’s responsibility is subsidiary, a hierarchical relationship between the two organs is affirmed, operative paragraph 1 lays down a condition precedent, and an emergency special session is a device for when the Assembly is not in ordinary session (PDF p.74-75).
- The statement’s use of the resolution: it is part of the fabric of the United Nations and of the Assembly itself, it affirms Assembly competence where the Council is unable to act and draws the limits of that competence where the Council is able to and has acted, and its strictures cannot be lightly discounted (PDF p.75).
Related pages
Letter of 29 January 2004 and Written Statement of the Government of Israel on Jurisdiction and Propriety, Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly, UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/14, UN Security Council Resolution 1515