Explain the voting procedure of the United Nations Security Council by mentioning its main function mandated by the charter.

Question 02: Explain the voting procedure of the United Nations Security Council by mentioning its main function mandated by the charter.

Introduction:

Security Council is the principal organ of the United Nations. It is a continuously functioning body. It acts on behalf of the united nation. The primary responsibility of Security Council is to maintain peace at the international level. Security Council has to perform the work of an executive nature. The Council has 15 members:

Five permanent members with veto power:

• China
•  France
• Russian Federation
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• United States of America

Ten non-permanent members, five of which are elected each year by the General Assembly for a two-year term. Each member has one vote. The Security Council calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. The Security Council does not meet seasonally but stands ready to convene at any time as the need arises. Under the Charter the Council alone has the power to take decisions and all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.

•  Voting procedure of Security Council:

UN Security Council takes actions on any matters by voting to issue resolution. Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote. There are two kinds of matters that the UN Security Council must vote on. One is calling procedural matters that require any nine votes from the 15 members of the UN Security Council. The other one is substantive matters that need the affirmative votes of nine members and there should not be any negative vote (veto) from any of the permanent members (Under Article 27 of the UN Charter).

 A negative vote (veto) by a permanent member prevents adoption of a proposal even if it has received the required number of affirmative votes. Because of this procedure, resolutions on substantive matters are hard to get pass. There are many criticisms around this matter and there are also calls for a reform of the voting procedure especially on the veto power of the permanent members.

Functions and powers of the Security Council: Under the Charter, the functions and powers of the Security Council include the following:

I. To maintain international peace and security: The primary responsibility of the Security Council is to maintain world peace and security. In order to maintain world peace and security the Security Council acts on behalf of the all member states and all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. The Security Council is bound by the principle and purposes of the organization and can not work arbitrarily. The primary responsibilities of the Security Council are as follows:

• To maintain world peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the UN.
• To formulate plans for establishing a system to regulate armaments.

The primary powers and functions of the Security Council in regard to maintain world peace and security are to be exercised by two means:

A.     Specific settlement of disputes by peaceful means.

B.     Taking enforcement action.

A. Specific settlement of disputes by peaceful means: The Council may assist in the settlement of disputes by friendly relations through mutual understanding and partnerships among nations based on respect for the principle of justice and to bring all the worlds nations together to work in solving international problems. The Security Council has following power in this respect:

•   To call upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means.
•  To investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction and to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement.
•   To encourage the peaceful settlement of local disputes through regional arrangements and to use such regional arrangements for enforcement action under its authority.

B. Taking enforcement action: Under the Charter, the Security Council deals with the action with respect to threat or breach of peace, acts of aggression. The Security Council has following power in this respect:

• To determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken e.g.

·         Economic sanctions, arms embargoes, financial penalties and    restrictions, and travel bans, severance of diplomatic relations or Blockade.

• To call upon the parties concerned to comply with such provisional measures as it deems necessary or desirable to prevent an aggravation of the situation.
• To call on members of the United Nations to take measures not involving the use of armed force — such as sanctions — to give effect to the Council’s decisions.
• To resort to or authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.

II. Function relating to election process: The Security Council also performs some elective functions. The Security Council and the general assembly separately elect the judges of international court of justice and also recommend the appointment of the secretary general of the United Nations. The secretary general shall be appointment on the basis of recommendation of the Security Council. The Security Council elects its own president for presiding the meetings.

III. Supervisory functions: The Security Council also performs some supervisory functions. The Security Council supervises the function of the organization as a whole although its supervisory functions are not wide as that of the general assembly but it has been conferred upon some very important functions in regard to the expulsion and suspension of the members. The Security Council has following power in this respect:

• To request the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question.
• To recommend to the General Assembly the admission of new members to the United Nations.
• To recommend to the General Assembly to suspended membership against whom preventive or enforcement action has been taken and to restored membership to the United Nations.

IV. Constituent functions: The Security Council also performs some Constituent functions. The Security Council amends the charter of united nation. According to Article 108 'Amendment to the present charter shall come into force for all members of General Assembly and ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by two third of the members of the United Nations, including the permanent members of the security council. No Amendment to the present charter is possible unless and until all the permanent members of the security council give affirmative vote on it subsequently ratified by their respective government. In respect of the Constituent power of the Security Council is an important organ then the General Assembly.

Conclusion:
To conclude I can say that, the Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations with vast power for the maintenance of international peace and security. But due to non co-operation and conflict among Big powers the Security Council has not found desire results to restore peace and security in the disturbed areas of the world.

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