Security Council Working Methods
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On Monday (23 February), the Security Council will have a ministerial-level open debate on the UN Charter where Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will brief and member states are expected to reflect on the history of the Charter and reaffirm their commitment...
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The UN Charter established a subsidiary body of the Council, the Military Staff Committee, with a mandate to advise and assist the Council on all questions relating to military requirements and the employment and command of forces placed at its disposal. However, the the Military Staff Committee soon became a victim of the Cold War divisions and never really got off the ground.
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The 12th annual workshop for incoming members of the Security Council will be held for two days (13-14 November), commencing tomorrow afternoon in Long Island, New York. The workshop is organised by the government of Finland in cooperation with the...
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Tomorrow morning (23 October), the Security Council will hold its fifth annual open debate on Council working methods. Ambassador María Cristina Perceval (Argentina), the chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions, will brief. , There...
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Tomorrow ( 22 October), the Council is expected to adopt its annual report to the General Assembly covering the period from 1 August 2013 through 31 July 2014. (Under Article 24(3) of the UN Charter, the Security Council must submit...
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Expected Council Action In October, the Council will hold its annual open debate on working methods. Ambassador María Cristina Perceval (Argentina), the chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (the Working Group), will brief. Also...
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On 30 July, the Security Council will hold a “wrap-up session” for the month of July during which Rwanda held the Council presidency. The meeting will be held under the agenda item “Implementation of Note S/2010/ 507 (Wrap-up Session)” with...
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Article 27(3) of the UN Charter not only enshrines the veto power of permanent members, but also institutes a limitation of this power through the principle of obligatory abstentions. In providing that “in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting”, the Charter seeks to ensure that a Council member “should not be allowed to be party, judge and jury at the same time” (S/PV.4753).
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This is Security Council Report’s third Special Research Report on the working methods of the Security Council, examining almost exactly four years of developments within the Security Council, its Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions and its other subsidiary bodies and comparing them to earlier findings.
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Since the three vetoes by Russia and China over Syria in 2011 and 2012 and the inability of the Security Council to find a solution to the conflict, there has been a common perception that the Council is divided. Likewise, following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Council was viewed as having become badly fractured. However, looking at decisions adopted, the Council is actually divided on just a limited number of issues and otherwise largely operates by consensus
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The 11th workshop for incoming members of the Security Council will be held for two days (21-22 November), starting this afternoon,in Long Island, New York. The workshop is organised by the government of Finland in cooperation with the Security Council...
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For two years—until the passage of resolution 2118 on 27 September requiring the verification and destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons—the veto blocked Security Council action on Syria, where a brutal civil war has claimed over 100,000 lives and prompted 2.2 million Syrians to flee into neighbouring countries. Joint China-Russia vetoes on three draft Syria resolutions have sparked discussion on and condemnation of the use of the veto, including by other permanent members.
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Tomorrow morning (29 October) the Security Council will hold its fourth annual debate on Council working methods. Ambassador María Cristina Perceval (Argentina), the chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions, will kick off the discussion....
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In October, the Council will hold its annual open debate on its working methods. The Chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions, Ambassador Maria Cristina Perceval (Argentina) will brief. No outcome is anticipated.
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In October the Council is expected to adopt its annual report to the General Assembly covering the period from 1 August 2012 through 31 July 2013. The US—which, as Council President in July is responsible for drafting the introduction of the report—is expected to address the Council.