THE PROCEDURE OF THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL THIRD EDITION SYDNEY D. BAILEY and SAM DAWS CLARENDON PRESS 1998 OXFORD
List of Tables and Charts List of Abbreviations and Acronyms CONTENTS xv xvii 1. THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK I 1. The role of the Security Council 3 2. The Charter 6 3. The rules of procedure 9 4. Custom 17 5. Functions 18 2. THE COUNCIL MEETS 21 1. Formal meetings and informal consultations 21 2. Convening a meeting 22 3. Notice of meetings 37 4. Place of meeting 40 5. 'Periodic' meetings 45 6. 'Orientation' and 'exchange of views' meetings 50 7. Private (closed) meetings 53 8. Informal consultations 60 9. Duration of meetings 75 10. The agenda 76 11. Rejection of items 89 12. Interpretation and translation 91 13. Documents and records 94 14. Communications 102 3. THE PEOPLE HO 1. Secretary-General no 2. President 124 3. Permanent members 137 4. Non-permanent members 141 5. Other participants 154 ix
6. Permanent missions 166 7. Groups 168 8. Regionalism 173 9. Credentials 175 10. Representation of China 179 n. Precedence 187 4. DIPLOMACY AND DEBATE 188 1. Order of speakers 189 2. Interrupting the speaker 192 3. Right of reply 19 6 4. Motions, proposals, suggestions 197 5. 'Precedence motions' (Rule 33) 201 6. Amendments 212 7. Statements before or after the vote 218 5. VOTING 221 1. Procedural motions 225 2. Substantive decisions 226 3. The veto 227 4. The double veto 240 5. The 'hidden veto' 249 6. Abstentions 250 7. Absence 257 8. Non-participation in the vote 258 9. Consensus and unanimity 259 10. When are decisions binding? 263 6. RELATIONS WITH OTHER ORGANS 274 1. Military Staff Committee 274 2. General Assembly 281 3. Economic and Social Council 301 4. Trusteeship Council 303 5. International Court of Justice 307 6. Non-Governmental Organizations 320 7. Appointment of the Secretary-General 321
7. SUBSIDIARY ORGANS 333 1. Organs concerned with Council procedure 334 (a) Committee of Experts 334 (b) Committee on Council Meetings away from Headquarters 335 2. Organs concerned with membership 338 (a) Committee on Admission of New Members 338 (b) Committee of Experts established at its 1506th meeting (mini-states) 350 3. Organs concerned with the maintenance of international peace and security 353 (a) Fact-finding missions 353 (b) Peace-keeping operations 356 (c) International tribunals 363 (d) Sanctions committees 365 (e) UN peace-enforcement 374 (f) Other miscellaneous organs for the maintenance of international peace and security 377 4. Other subsidiary bodies 377 (a) Informal Working Group of the Security Council concerning the Council's documentation and other procedural questions 377 8. NEW CHARTER, NEW MEMBERS, NEW RULES, NEW WORKING PRACTICES, OR NEW NATIONAL POLICIES? 379 1. New Charter? 379 2. New members? 382 3. New rules? 390 4. New working practices? 410 5. New national policies? 411 APPENDICES 413 I. (a) Extracts from the UN Charter 413 (b) Extracts from the Statute of the International Court of Justice 437 II. Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Security Council, as amended 21 Dec. 1982 441 xi
III. The Yalta formula on voting in the Security Council, 8 June 1945 455 IV. (a) Opinion of the Legal Counsel on relations between the General Assembly and the Security Council, 10 Sept. 1964 459 (b) Opinion of the Legal Counsel on relations between the General Assembly and the Security Council, 12 Dec. 1968 473 V. Memorandum by the Secretary-General on the procedure to be followed in the election of a member of the International Court of Justice, 24 January 1996. Extract 474 VI. United Nations Peace-keeping Operations 1948-96. Details of authorizing resolutions, function, location and duration. 477 VII. Matters of which the Security Council is seized, 10 January 1997. S/1997/40. 518 VIII. Communications received from private individuals and non-governmental bodies relating to matters of which the Security Council is seized, 3 February 1997. S/NC/1996/4. 529 IX. The Secretariat's tentative forecast of the programme of work of the Security Council for the month of August 1995 533 X. Resolutions, Notes, and Letters related to procedural developments in the documentation of the Security Council 542 (a) Presidential Note of 30 June 1993 concerning the annual report of the Security Council to the General Assembly, S/26015. 542 (b) Presidential Note of 27 July 1993 concerning the forecast of the programme of work of the Council, S/26176. 544 (c) Presidential Note of 31 August 1993 concerning Council documentation, S/26389. 545 (d) Letter dated 2 June 1995 from Argentina concerning changes to the nomenclature of statements made by the President of the Security Council, S/1995/456. 546 xn
(e) General Assembly resolution 51/193 of 17 December 1996 concerning the annual report of the Security Council 549 (f) Note by the President [concerning the format of the annual report of the Council to the General Assembly], 12 June 1997. S/1997/451. 551 (g) Informal briefing note on Blue Draft Resolutions, prepared by the Secretariat, July 1995 553 XI. Aide-memoire concerning the working methods of the Security Council from the Permanent Representative of France, 11 November 1994, A/49/667 and S/1994/1279. 556 XII. Presidential Statements related to procedural developments in UN peace-keeping: Peace-keeping general: (a) Presidential Statement of 3 May 1994. Improving UN capacity for peace-keeping, S/PRST/1994/22. 563 (b) Presidential Statement of 22 February 1995. Consideration of Supplement to 'An Agenda for Peace', S/PRST/1995/9. 568 Peace-keeping consultations and transparency: (c) Presidential Statement of 4 November 1994. Meetings between members of Security Council, troop-contributing countries and Secretariat, S/PRST/1994/62. 573 (d) Presidential Statement of 16 December 1994. Increased recourse to open meetings of Security Council in order to improve flow of information and exchange of ideas between Security Council and other UN Member States, S/PRST/1994/81. 575 (e) Presidential Statement of 28 March 1996. Strengthening consultation procedures with troopcontributing countries, S/PRST/1996/13. 576 Peace-keeping stand-by arrangements: (f) Presidential Statement of 27 July 1994. Stand-by arrangements for peace-keeping operations, S/PRST/i 994/36. 579 (g) Presidential Statement of 19 December 1995. Peacekeeping stand-by arrangements, S/PRST/1995/61. 580 xiii
XIII. Notes by the President concerning Sanctions Committees of the Security Council (a) Note by the President dated 29 March 1995, S/1995/234. 581 (b) Note by the President dated 31 May 1995, S/1995/438. 582 (c) Note by the President dated 24 January 1996, S/1996/54. 583 XIV. Letter from the permanent members of the Security Council on the humanitarian aspects of sanctions, 13 April 1995, S/1995/300. 584 XV. Note dated 26 February 1997 by the Secretary-General, circulated to the Security Council, on the adoption of General Assembly resolution 51/208, entitled 'Implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions', S/1997/161. 586 XVI. Presidential Statement of 26 September 1995. Fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, S/PRST/1995/48. 587 XVII. Security Council resolution 984 (1995) of 11 April 1995. Assurances to non-nuclear weapons States. 589 XVIII. Statute of the International Tribunal for Rwanda. Annex to Security Council resolution 955 (1994) of 8 November 1994. 592 XIX. The first Sydney Bailey Memorial Lecture. Address given by his Royal Highness Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Westminster Abbey, London, 10 March 1997. 606 Select bibliography 611 References 616 Index 671 xiv