United Nations Charter
Encyclopedia : U : UN : UNI : United Nations Charter
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| United Nations Charter | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opened for signature | June 26, 1945 in San Francisco | ||
| Entered into force | October 24, 1945 | ||
| Conditions for entry into force | Ratification by 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, and by a majority of the other signatory states. | ||
| Parties | 191 | ||
As a Charter it is a constituent treaty, and all signatories are bound by its articles. Furthermore, it explicitly says that the Charter trumps all other treaty obligations. It was ratified by the United States on August 8, 1945, making that nation the third, after Nicaragua and El Salvador, to join the new international organization.
Most countries in the world have now ratified the Charter. The Vatican City, is a permanent observer state and therefore is not a full signatory to the Charter.
Organization of the document
An "Introductory Note" details the actual amendments to the Charter.
The Charter itself consists of a preamble, broadly patterned after the preamble of the Constitution of the United States, and a series of articles divided into chapters.
- 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 XVII describe arrangements for integrating the UN with established international law.
- Chapters XVIII and XIX provide for amendment and ratification of the Charter.
- 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;
- Chapters IX and X describe the UN's powers for economic and social cooperation, and the Economic and Social Council that oversees these powers;
- Chapters XII and XIII describe the Trusteeship Council, which oversaw decolonization;
- Chapters XIV and XV establish the powers of, respectively, the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Secretariat.
See also
- Nuremberg Principles
- Implications of the Charter for the Bush Doctrine
References
External links
- [Full text of the charter]
- [Searchable/cross-referenced/Trackback-enabled text of the charter]
- [Charter of the United Nations at Law-Ref.org] - fully indexed and crosslinked with other documents
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