Charter of the United Nations

CHAPTER XI

DECLARATION REGARDING NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES

Article 73

Members of the United Nations which have or assume
responsibilities for the administration of territories whose
peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government
recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of
these territories are paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the
obligation to promote to the utmost, within the system of
international peace and security established by the present
Charter, the well-being of the inhabitants of these territories,
and, to this end:

a. to ensure, with due respect for the culture of the peoples
concerned, their political, economic, social, and
educational advancement, their just treatment, and their
protection against abuses;
b. to develop self-government, to take due account of the
political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in
the progressive development of their free political
institutions, according to the particular circumstances of
each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of
advancement;
c. to further international peace and security;
d. to promote constructive measures of development, to
encourage research, and to cooperate with one another and,
when and where appropriate, with specialized international
bodies with a view to the practical achievement of the
social, economic, and scientific purposes set forth in this
Article; and
e. to transmit regularly to the Secretary-General for
information purposes, subject to such limitation as security
and constitutional considerations may require, statistical
and other information of a technical nature relating to
economic, social, and educational conditions in the
territories for which they are respectively responsible
other than those territories to which Chapter XII and XIII
apply.

Article 74

Members of the United Nations also agree that their policy in
respect of the territories to which this Chapter applies, no less
than in respect of their metropolitan areas, must be based on the
general principle of good-neighborliness, due account being taken
of the interests and well-being of the rest of the world, in
social, economic, and commercial matters.

CHAPTER XII

INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEESHIP SYSTEM

Article 75

The United Nations shall establish under its authority an
international trusteeship system for the administration and
supervision of such territories as may be placed thereunder by
subsequent individual agreements. These territories are
hereinafter referred to as trust territories.

Article 76

The basic objectives of the trusteeship system, in accordance
with the Purposes of the United Nations laid down in Article 1 of
the present Charter, shall be:
a. to further international peace and security;
b. to promote the political, economic, social, and educational
advancement of the inhabitants of the trust territories, and
their progressive development towards self-government or
independence as may be appropriate to the particular
circumstances of each territory and its peoples and the
freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned, and as may
be provided by the terms of each trusteeship agreement;
c. to encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex,
language, or religion, and to encourage recognition of the
interdependence of the peoples of the world; and
d. to ensure equal treatment in social, economic, and
commercial matters for all Members of the United Nations and
their nationals and also equal treatment for the latter in
the administration of justice without prejudice to the
attainment of the foregoing objectives and subject to the
provisions of Article 80.

Article 77

1. The trusteeship system shall apply to such territories in the
following categories as may be placed thereunder by means of
trusteeship agreements:
a. territories now held under mandate;
b. territories which may be detached from enemy states as a
result of the Second World War, and
c. territories voluntarily placed under the system by states
responsible for their administration.
2. It will be a matter for subsequent agreement as to which
territories in the foregoing categories will be brought under the
trusteeship system and upon what terms.

Article 78

The trusteeship system shall not apply to territories which have
become Members of the United Nations, relationship among which
shall be based on respect for the principle of sovereign
equality.

Article 79

The terms of trusteeship for each territory to be placed under
the trusteeship system, including any alteration or amendment,
shall be agreed upon by the states directly concerned, including
the mandatory power in the case of territories held under mandate
by a Member of the United Nations, and shall be approved as
provided for in Articles 83 and 85.

Article 80

1. Except as may be agreed upon in individual trusteeship
agreements, made under Articles 77, 79, and 81, placing each
territory under the trusteeship system, and until such agreements
have been concluded, nothing in this Chapter shall be construed
in or of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of
any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international
instruments to which Members of the United Nations may
respectively be parties.
2. Paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be interpreted as giving
grounds for delay or postponement of the negotiation and
conclusion of agreements for placing mandated and other
territories under the trusteeship system as provided for in
Article 77.

Article 81

The trusteeship agreement shall in each case include the terms
under which the trust territory will be administered and
designate the authority which will exercise the administration of
the trust territory. Such authority, hereinafter called the
administering authority, may be one or more states or the
Organization itself.

Article 82

There may be designated, in any trusteeship agreement, a
strategic area or areas which may include part or all of the
trust territory to which the agreement applies, without prejudice
to any special agreement or agreements made under Article 43.

Article 83

1. All functions of the United Nations relating to strategic
areas, including the approval of the terms of the trusteeship
agreements and of their alteration or amendment, shall be
exercised by the Security Council.
2. The basic objectives set forth in Article 76 shall be
applicable to the people of each strategic area.
3. The Security Council shall, subject to the provisions of the
trusteeship agreements and without prejudice to security
considerations, avail itself of the assistance of the Trusteeship
Council to perform those functions of the United Nations under
the trusteeship system relating to political. economic, social,
and educational matters in the strategic areas.

Article 84

It shall be the duty of the administering authority to ensure
that the trust territory shall play its part in the maintenance
of international peace and security. To this end the
administering authority may make use of volunteer forces,
facilities, and assistance from the trust territory in carrying
out the obligations towards the Security Council undertaken in
this regard by the administering authority, as well as for local
defense and the maintenance of law and order within the trust
territory.

Article 85

1. The functions of the United Nations with regard to trusteeship
agreements for all areas not designated as strategic, including
the approval of the terms of the trusteeship agreements and of
their alteration or amendment, shall be exercised by the General
Assembly.
2. The Trusteeship Council, operating under the authority of the
General Assembly, shall assist the General Assembly in carrying
out these functions.

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Charter of the United Nations.