UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI LAW ACADEMY

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL AND TRUSTEESHIP
COUNCIL: COMPOSITION AND FUNCTIONS

SUBMITTED TO : - DR KEVAL UKEY

SUBMITTED BY: - NIDHI HASMUKH FAGANIYA
ROLL NO : 12
FOURTH YEAR. BBA. LLB ( HONS)
 UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI LAW ACADEMY

 INDEX

Sr. No Particulars Page.No

1. Introduction 3
2. United Nations Charter; The Economic And Social 4-5
Council

3. Economic And Social Council 6

4. The Economic And Social Council: Composition 7–8

5. The Economic And Social Council: Composition 9 – 10

6. Coordination Within The Un 11

7. Trusteeship Council 12 – 13

8. Composition Of Trusteeship Council 14

9. Bureau 14
10. Functions And Powers 15
11. Relations With The Trusteeship Council 16 – 17
12. Bibliography 18

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 INTRODUCTION

● The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six
principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and
social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized
agencies, the eight functional commissions, and the five regional commissions under
its jurisdiction.
● ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social
issues, and formulating policy recommendations addressed to member states and the
United Nations System 1. It has 54 members 2. In addition to a rotating membership of
54 UN member states, over 1,600 nongovernmental organizations have consultative
status with the Council to participate in the work of the United Nations 3.
● ECOSOC holds one four-week session each year in July, and since 1998 has also held
an annual meeting in April with finance ministers heading key committees of
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Additionally, the High-
Level Political Forum (HLPF), which reviews implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, is convened under the auspices of the Council every July.

1
Background Information". ECOSOC.
2
"High-Level Political Forum 2020 (HLPF 2020) .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform".
3
Basu, Rumki (2019). The United Nations. Sterling. p. 83. ISBN 978-81-207-2775-5.
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 UNITED NATIONS CHARTER; THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL

COUNCIL

● The Charter of the United Nations is the founding document of the United Nations. It
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 United Nations can take action on a wide variety of issues due to its unique
international character and the powers vested in its Charter, which is considered an
international treaty. As such, the UN Charter is an instrument of international law, and
UN Member States are bound by it. The UN Charter codifies the major principles of
international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of the use
of force in international relations.

● Since the UN's founding in 1945, the mission and work of the Organization have been
guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter, which has
been amended three times in 1963, 1965, and 1973.

● The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations,
functions in accordance with the Statute of the International Court of Justice, which is
annexed to the UN Charter, and forms an integral part of it.

● The Charter establishes an Economic and Social Council as a principal organ which,
under the authority of the General Assembly, devotes itself to promoting international
economic and social co-operation. The Council consists of eighteen Members of the
United Nations. Its members are elected by the General Assembly for a term of three
years. A retiring member is eligible for immediate reelection. Each member has one
representative.

● The Charter recognizes that conditions of stability and well-being are necessary for
peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of
equal rights and self-determination of peoples. With a view to creating such
conditions the United Nations undertakes to promote:

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(a) higher standards of living, full employment and conditions of economic and social
progress and development;

(b) solutions of international economic, social, health and related problems; and
international cultural and educational co-operation; and

(c) universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms
for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.

● All Members pledge themselves to take joint and separate action in co-operation with
the United Nations for the achievement of these purposes. The United Nations is
conceived to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of
these economic, social and other purposes. In the economic and social fields there are
in existence various specialized agencies established by inter-governmental
agreement.

● The Charter authorizes the United Nations to bring such agencies into relationship
with the United Nations and to co-ordinate their policies and activities, and
furthermore to create such new agencies as it deems necessary for the
accomplishment of its economic and social purposes.

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 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

● Designed to be the UN’s main venue for the discussion of international economic and
social issues, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) directs and coordinates
the economic, social, humanitarian, and cultural activities of the UN and its
specialized agencies. Established by the UN Charter, ECOSOC is empowered to
recommend international action on economic and social issues; promote universal
respect for human rights; and work for global cooperation on health, education, and
cultural and related areas.

● ECOSOC conducts studies; formulates resolutions, recommendations, and

conventions for consideration by the General Assembly; and coordinates the activities
of various UN programs and specialized agencies. Most of ECOSOC’s work is
performed in functional commissions on topics such as human rights, narcotics,
population, social development, statistics, the status of women, and science and
technology; the council also oversees regional commissions for Europe, Asia and the
Pacific, Western Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

● The UN Charter authorizes ECOSOC to grant consultative status to nongovernmental

organizations (NGOs). Three categories of consultative status are recognized: General
Category NGOs (formerly category I) include organizations with multiple goals and
activities; Special Category NGOs (formerly category II) specialize in certain areas of
ECOSOC activities; and Roster NGOs have only an occasional interest in the UN’s
activities. Consultative status enables NGOs to attend ECOSOC meetings, issue
reports, and occasionally testify at meetings. Since the mid-1990s, measures have
been adopted to increase the scope of NGO participation in ECOSOC, in the ad hoc
global conferences, and in other UN activities. By the early 21st century, ECOSOC
had granted consultative status to more than 2,500 NGOs.

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 THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL: COMPOSITION

1. The Economic and Social Council shall consist of fifty-four Members of the United
Nations elected by the General Assembly.

2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, eighteen members of the Economic and

Social Council shall be elected each year for a term of three years. A retiring member
shall be eligible for immediate re-election.

3. At the first election after the increase in the membership of the Economic and Social
Council from twenty-seven to fifty-four members, in addition to the members elected
in place of the nine members whose term of office expires at the end of that year,
twenty-seven additional members shall be elected. Of these twenty-seven additional
members, the term of office of nine members so elected shall expire at the end of one
year, and of nine other members at the end of two years, in accordance with
arrangements made by the General Assembly.

4. Each member of the Economic and Social Council shall have one representative.

● The president of the Council is elected for a one-year term and chosen from the small
or medium sized states represented on the Council at the beginning of each new
session 4.The presidency rotates among the United Nations Regional Groups to ensure
equal representation 5.

● Collen Vixen Kelapile was elected as the seventy-seventh president of the Council on
23 July 2021 6, succeeding Munir Akram of Pakistan.

4
Mu Xuequan (27 July 2018). "UN ECOSOC Elects New President". Xinhuanet. Xinhua News Agency.
Retrieved 25 February 2019.
5
"United Nations Official Document, Rule 20.2".
6
"ECOSOC President 2021 His Excellency Collen Vixen Kelapile".
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● The Council consists of 54 Member States, which are elected yearly by the General
Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. Seats on the Council are allocated
ensuring equitable geographic rotation among the United Nations regional groups,
with 14 being allocated to the African Group, 11 to the Asia-Pacific Group, 6 to
the Eastern European Group, 10 to the Latin American and Caribbean Group and 13
to the Western European and Others Group 7.

7
United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 14 June 2019.

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 POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL

COUNCIL

● The responsibility for the discharge of these functions of the United Nations in the
economic and social fields is vested in the General Assembly and, under the authority
of the General Assembly, in the Economic and Social Council.
● The principal functions and powers of the Economic and Social Council are:

(a) to make or initiate studies and reports with respect to international economic,
social, cultural, educational, health and related matters and to make recommendations
with respect to any such matters to the General Assembly, to the Members of the
United Nations and to the specialized agencies concerned;

(b) to make recommendations for the purpose of promoting respect for, and
observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all;

(c) to prepare draft conventions for submission to the General Assembly, with respect
to matters falling within its competence; and

(d) to call, in accordance with the rules prescribed by the United Nations,
international conferences on matters falling within its competence.

As regards the specialized agencies, the Economic and Social Council may:

(a) enter into agreements with any of the specialized agencies, defining the terms on
which the agencies shall be brought into relationship with the United Nations, such
agreements being subject to approval by the General Assembly;

(b) co-ordinate the activities of the specialized agencies through consultation with and
recommendations to such agencies and through recommendations to the General
Assembly and to the Members of the United Nations;

(c) take appropriate steps to obtain regular reports from the specialized agencies, and
make arrangements with the Members of the United Nations and with the specialized
agencies to obtain reports on the steps taken to give effect to its own
recommendations and to recommendations on matters falling within its competence
made by the General Assembly; and

(d) communicate its observations on these reports to the General Assembly.

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● Any financial and budgetary arrangements with the specialized agencies are to be
considered and approved by the General Assembly, which is also to examine the
administrative budgets of such specialized agencies with a view to making
recommendations to the agencies concerned.
● The Economic and Social Council may furnish information to the Security Council
and is to assist the Security Council upon its request. It is to perform such functions as
fall within its competence in connection with the carrying out of the recommendations
of the General Assembly. It may, with the approval of the General Assembly, perform
services at the request of Members of the United Nations and at the request of
specialized agencies.
● The Council, when so authorized by the General Assembly, may request advisory
opinions of the International Court of Justice on legal questions arising within the
scope of its activities. The Secretary-General is to act in that capacity in all meetings
of the Economic and Social Council and is to assign a permanent staff to the
Economic and Social Council

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 COORDINATION WITHIN THE UN

● ECOSOC links a diverse family of subsidiary bodies and UN entities (Organogram)

dedicated to sustainable development, providing overall guidance and coordination.
These include regional economic and social commissions, functional commissions
facilitating intergovernmental discussions of major global issues, expert bodies
establishing important global normative frameworks, and specialized agencies,
programmer and funds at work around the world to translate development
commitments into real changes in people’s lives.

● Reforms over the last decade, particularly General Assembly

resolutions 68/1, 72/305 and 75/290 A, have strengthened ECOSOC’s leading role in
identifying emerging challenges, promoting innovation, and achieving a balanced
integration of the three pillars - economic, social and environmental- of sustainable
development.

● The 2021 review, which was undertaken together with the resolutions on the High-
level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF), bolstered ECOSOC’s
Charter mandate as a coordinator, convener and specialized body for policy dialogue,
policy-making and forger of consensus towards the implementation of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as other major UN /conferences and
summits under its purview, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to address
other major global challenges and new issues.

● Resolution 75/290A thus strengthened the coordination role of the Council, and it also
reinforced its deliberative nature. Furthermore,
resolutions 75/290A and 75/290B enhanced the coordination between the work of
ECOSOC and the HLPF.

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 TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL

● The UN Charter established the Trusteeship Council as one of the main organs of the
United Nations, and assigned to it the task of supervising the administration of Trust
Territories placed under the International Trusteeship System.

● The Trusteeship Council was designed to supervise the government of trust territories and
to lead them to self-government or independence. The trusteeship system, like the mandate
system under the League of Nations, was established on the premise that colonial
territories taken from countries defeated in war should not be annexed by the victorious
powers but should be administered by a trust country under international supervision until
their future status was determined.

● Unlike the mandate system, the trusteeship system invited petitions from trust territories on
their independence and required periodic international missions to the territories.

● In 1945 only 12 League of Nations mandates remained: Nauru, New Guinea, Ruanda-
Urundi, Togoland and Cameroon (French administered), Togoland and Cameroon (British
administered), the Pacific Islands (Carolines, Marshalls, and Marianas), Western Samoa,
South West Africa, Tanganyika, and Palestine. All these mandates became trust territories
except South West Africa (now Namibia), which South Africa refused to enter into the
trusteeship system.

● The Trusteeship Council, which met once each year, consisted of states administering trust
territories, permanent members of the Security Council that did not administer trust
territories, and other UN members elected by the General Assembly. Each member had
one vote, and decisions were taken by a simple majority of those present.

● With the independence of Palau, the last remaining trust territory, in 1994, the council
terminated its operations. No longer required to meet annually, the council may meet on
the decision of its president or on a request by a majority of its members, by the General
Assembly, or by the Security Council. Since 1994 new roles for the council have been

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proposed, including administering the global commons (e.g., the seabed and outer space)
and serving as a forum for minority and indigenous peoples.

● The main goals of the International Trusteeship System were to promote the advancement
of the inhabitants of Trust Territories and their progressive development towards self-
government or independence. The Trusteeship Council is made up of the five permanent
members of the Security Council -- China, France, the Russian Federation, the United
Kingdom and the United States.

● The aims of the Trusteeship System have been fulfilled to the extent that all Trust
Territories have attained self-government or independence, either as separate States or by
joining neighboring independent countries.

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 COMPOSITION OF TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL

1. The Trusteeship Council shall consist of the following Members of the United
Nations:

a) those Members administering trust territories;

b) such of those Members mentioned by name in Article 23 as are not
administering trust territories; and
c) as many other Members elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly
as may be necessary to ensure that the total number of members of the
Trusteeship Council is equally divided between those Members of the United
Nations which administer trust territories and those which do not.

2. Each member of the Trusteeship Council shall designate one specially qualified
person to represent it therein 8.

 BUREAU

● At the beginning of each session the Trusteeship Council elects a President and a Vice-
President from among the representatives of the members of the Council. The President
and the Vice-President hold their offices until their respective successors are elected, for a
maximum duration of five years.

● At its seventy-second session in 2019, the Trusteeship Council elected Anne Gueguen of
France as its President and Jonathan Guy Allen of the United Kingdom as its
Vice-President.9

8
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/chapter-13
9
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/trusteeship-council
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 FUNCTIONS AND POWERS

• The General Assembly and, under its authority, the Trusteeship Council, in carrying out their
functions, may:
1. consider reports submitted by the administering authority;
2. accept petitions and examine them in consultation with the administering authority;
3. provide for periodic visits to the respective trust territories at times agreed upon with
the administering authority; and
4. take these and other actions in conformity with the terms of the trusteeship
agreements.

• The Trusteeship Council shall formulate a questionnaire on the political, economic, social,
and educational advancement of the inhabitants of each trust territory, and the administering
authority for each trust territory within the competence of the General Assembly shall make
an annual report to the General Assembly upon the basis of such questionnaire10.

• The Trusteeship Council is authorized to examine and discuss reports from the Administering
Authority on the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the peoples of
Trust Territories and, in consultation with the Administering Authority, to examine petitions
from and undertake periodic and other special missions to Trust Territories11.

10
https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/ctc/uncharter.pdf
11
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/trusteeship-council
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 RELATIONS WITH THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL

● At its fourth session, the Council appointed a committee consisting of the President
and two members selected by him to confer with representatives of the Trusteeship
Council on arrangements for co-operation in dealing with matters of common
concern. The President appointed the members for India and Venezuela" to be
members of the Committee; and the representatives of the two Councils presented a
joint report (E&T/C.1/2 later revised in E&T/C.1/2/Rev.1 and Corr. 1).

● The chief recommendations of the Joint Committee dealt with the activities of the
Councils in social and economic fields where there was a question of overlapping, and
with the roles of the commissions of the Economic and Social Council and of the
specialized agencies.

● The report stated: "It is recognized that the Economic and Social Council and its
commissions are empowered to make recommendations or studies of general
application on matters within their special provinces. It is also recognized that such
recommendations or studies may be made in respect of particular groups of territories
such as those within a given geographical region or those presenting common
economic or social problems.

● It is, however, recognized that Trust Territories should not be singled out for such
specialist recommendations, except with the concurrence of the Trusteeship Council."
It also recommended that requests by the Trusteeship Council for assistance from
specialized agencies should be sent directly to the specialized agency concerned, the
Economic and Social Council being informed at the same time; and it recognized that
the implementation of the agreements with the specialized agencies in matters of
concern to the Trusteeship Council was a continuing problem to be worked out in the
light of experience.

● In addition, detailed recommendations were made concerning notification of

meetings, communication of provisional agenda of each Council to members of the
other, calling of special sessions of the Councils, reciprocal representation at meetings
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of Councils and their commissions, exchange of documents, representation of the

United Nations at meetings of specialized agencies and the handling of petitions and
communications concerning human rights and the status of women.
● Finally, as regards machinery, the report recommended that the Presidents of the two
Councils should confer with one another as and when necessary regarding matters of
common concern, and that, if the nature of any question warranted it, they should be
empowered to convene an ad hoc committee composed of an equal number of
representatives (which they should decide) of both Councils.

● The report was considered by the Council at its 119th plenary meeting on August 16,
1947. The Council decided to refer it to the Trusteeship Council together with the
record of opinions expressed by members of the Economic and Social Council. The
representatives of New Zealand, Canada and the U.S.S.R. expressed criticism of the
Joint Committee's recommendations concerning petitions on human rights or the
status of women emanating from Trust Territories.

● The Committee had recommended that as a matter of principle all such petitions
should be dealt with by the Trusteeship Council, which should communicate to the
appropriate commissions, for such assistance as it might desire, those parts of such
petitions relating to matters of special concern to them.

● The Committee further recommended that the Trusteeship Council when considering
such petitions should consider to which of them the procedure adopted by the
Economic and Social Council for dealing with communications concerning human
rights17 and the status of women18 could be applied.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

● https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/home

● https://www.britannica.com/topic/Economic-and-Social-Council

● https://csonet.org/?menu=123

● https://www.unhcr.org/4e1ee75f0.pdf

● https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/ctc/uncharter.pdf

● https://www.un.org/en/about-us/trusteeship-council

● https://www.un.org/en/model-united-nations/economic-and-social-council

● https://www.un.org/en/about-us/main-bodies

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