Are UN resolutions binding?
Last Updated: Jan 05, 2024
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Resolutions and decisions are formal expressions of the opinion or will of UN organs. Many types of resolutions on a broad range of topics have been adopted by the principal organs and their subsidiaries since the establishment of the organization in 1945.
Some examples of the various types of resolutions and decisions are:
- admission of States to UN membership (e.g. A/RES/65/308)
- adoption of the budget (e.g. A/RES/68/248 A-C)
- election of members to UN bodies (e.g. General Assembly decision 68/403, in A/68/49 (Vol.II) p. 4)
- establishment of peacekeeping missions (e.g. S/RES/2100 (2013))
- final text of multilateral treaties (e.g. A/RES/61/177)
- political declarations (e.g. A/RES/63/1)
- procedural matters (e.g. A/RES/67/250)
- sanctions (e.g. S/RES/1373 (2001))
- taking note of a report (e.g. E/RES/2014/9)
The nature of the resolution determines if it is considered binding on States.
See, for example, the Secretariat's legal opinion of 9 May 1986, on "Questions relating to the voting procedure and decision-making process of the General Assembly—General rule applicable to the calculation of the majority required for the adoption of resolutions and decisions by the General Assembly—Exceptions to the rule—Effect of absence or non-participation on the binding force of resolutions and decisions", published in the UN Juridical Yearbook, 1986, p. 274 (English) (see link below).
In general, resolutions adopted by the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, are considered binding, in accordance with Article 25 of the Charter.
Legal scholars have various opinions on this question. See, for example, selected articles and books listed in the Links section below.
Links & Files
- Research Guide : Charter of the United Nations
- UN Charter
- Questions relating to the voting procedure and decision-making process of the GA—General rule applicable to the calculation of the majority required for the adoption of resolutions and decisions by the GA—Exceptions to the rule—Effect of absence or non-participation on the binding force ...
- Benzing, Marcus. "International Organizations or Institutions, Secondary Law" in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Article updated March 2007. Accessed 9 January 2017 [Subscription resource available at UNHQ]
- De Wet, E. The Chapter VII Powers of the United Nations Security Council. Oxford [UK]: Hart, 2004.
- Frowein, Jochen A. "United Nations" in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Article updated March 2013. Accessed 3 Sept. 2014. [Subscription resource available at UNHQ]
- Sands, Philippe, Pierre Klein, and D W. Bowett. Bowett's Law of International Institutions, 6th ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2009.
- Schermers, Henry G, and Niels Blokker. International Institutional Law: Unity Within Diversity. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2011.
- Simma, Bruno. The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
- Weiss, Thomas G, and Sam Daws. The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
- Ask DAG (Chinese): 联合国决议是否具有约束力?
- Ask DAG (French): Les résolutions de l’Assemblée générale et du Conseil de sécurité sont-elles contraignantes ?
- Ask DAG (Spanish): ¿Son las resoluciones de la ONU de carácter obligatorio?
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: answers are prepared by library staff using resources available at the time of writing. This site may include links and references to third-party databases, websites, books and articles, this does not imply endorsement by the United Nations.
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