Charter of the United Nations

The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the Charter.

Amendments to Articles 23, 27 and 61 of the Charter were adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 1963 and came into force on 31 August 1965. A further amendment to Article 61 was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1971, and came into force on 24 September 1973. An amendment to Article 109, adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1965, came into force on 12 June 1968.

The amendment to Article 23 enlarges the membership of the Security Council from eleven to fifteen. The amended Article 27 provides that decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven) and on all other matters by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven), including the concurring votes of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

The amendment to Article 61, which entered into force on 31 August 1965, enlarged the
membership of the Economic and Social Council from eighteen to twenty-seven. The
subsequent amendment to that Article, which entered into force on 24 September 1973, further increased the membership of the Council from twenty-seven to fifty-four.

The amendment to Article 109, which relates to the first paragraph of that Article, provides that a General Conference of Member States for the purpose of reviewing the Charter may be held at a date and place to be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly and by a vote of any nine members (formerly seven) of the Security Council.

Paragraph 3 of Article 109, which deals with the consideration of a possible review conference during the tenth regular session of the General Assembly, has been retained in its original form in its reference to a “vote, of any seven members of the Security Council”, the paragraph having been acted upon in 1955 by the General Assembly, at its tenth regular session, and by the Security Council.

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

• to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from Treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

AND FOR THESE ENDS

• to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
• to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
  to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
• to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social
  advancement of all peoples,

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

• UN: Purposes, principles and membership
• United Nations organs
• UN Pacific settlement of disputes
• UN: International cooperation and the ESC
• UN International Court of Justice
• United Nations Secretariat
• Other provisions

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon, Agreement Relating to the “INTELSAT” 6, Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts 2, Charter of the Organization of American States 2, Charter of the Organization of American States 8, Charter of the United Nations 2, Charter of the United Nations 3, Charter of the United Nations 4, Charter of the United Nations 5, Charter of the United Nations 6, Charter of the United Nations 7, Charter of the United Nations 8, Convention Concerning Freedom of Association, Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries 4, Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment 2, Convention Concerning Protection against Hazards of Poisoning Arising from Benzene, Convention Concerning Safety in the Use of Asbestos 2, Convention Concerning Safety in the Use of Chemicals at Work 2, Convention Concerning the Abolition of Forced Labor, Convention Concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organize and to Bargain Collectively, Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 3, Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Area 3, Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization 4, Convention for the Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets in the South Pacific 2, Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 2, Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region 3, Convention on Fishing & Conservation of Living Resources 2, Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects 3, Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, Convention on the (INMARSAT) 7, Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine and Living Resources 3, Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals 3, Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 2, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, Convention on the Prohibition of Military or any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological), Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities 9, Convention on the Rights of the Child 5, Conventions: Chronological Index, Cyprus Treaty of Guarantee, European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon 2, History of the International law, Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings 3, International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-Operation, 1990 3, International Convention on Salvage 3, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 2, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant 2, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 2, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 7, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 3, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International organizations articles of conventions, Niue Treaty on Cooperation in Fisheries Surveillance and Law Enforcement in the South Pacific Region 2, Other provisions, Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention 2, Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, Protocol on Environmental Protection 3, Protocol on Environmental Protection 4, Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 2, Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 4, Regional Convention for the Conservation of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Environment 3, South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, Statute of the International Court of Justice 6, Statute of the International Court of Justice, Straits used for International Navigation, Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone 2, The Antarctic Treaty 2, The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Treaties, Treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe 3, Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe 7, Treaty on Open Skies 2, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, UN International Court of Justice, UN International Trusteeship system, UN Pacific settlement of disputes, UN: International cooperation and the ESC, UN: Purposes, principles and membership, United Nations Conference on the Human Environment 2, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 12, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 30, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 32, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 6, United Nations Secretariat, United Nations organs.