1.

What is the overall importance of United Nations to the international

community?
As the world’s only truly universal global organization, the United Nations has become
the foremost forum to address issues that transcend national boundaries and cannot be
resolved by any one country acting alone.
In addition to maintaining international peace and security, the United Nations protects
human rights, delivers humanitarian aid, promotes sustainable development and
upholds international law.
2. What are the principal purposes of the United Nations?
Chapter I: Purposes and Principles Article 1
The Purposes of the United Nations are:
To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective
collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the
suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by
peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law,
adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a
breach of the peace;
To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of
equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures
to strengthen universal peace;
To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an
economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and
encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without
distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these
common ends.
3. Does the United Nations have a legal personality?
In a landmark case of 1949 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that IOs, in that
case the United Nations (UN), could indeed have international legal personality and
thus have rights and obligations under international law. The ICJ claimed that
international legal personality of the UN was derived from the UN Charter and the
organization's given mandate and functions, for without it the UN could not perform
those tasks it was required to by the UN Charter.
4. Does the United Nations Charter provide a legal obligation on the part of the UN
Members to respect Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms?
Yes, The UN Charter is the constitutive instrument of the United Nations, signed on 26
June 1945. It sets out the rights and obligations of Member States and establishes the
principal organs and procedures of the United Nations. The Charter is an international
treaty which codifies the basic tenets of international relations from the sovereign
equality of states to prohibition of the use of force in any manner inconsistent with the
purposes of the United Nations.
(search for the key words in the UN Charter)
5. Art. 103, do the obligations of the UN Members under the United Nations
Charter hold supremacy over their obligations in any other international
agreements?
Yes, In the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United
Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other international
agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail.
6. What are the principal organs of the United Nations?
The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the United Nations. It is
composed of representatives from all Member States, each of which has one vote.
Under the Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance
of international peace and security. It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote.
Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
Read more about the Security Council here.
A founding UN Charter body established in 1946, the Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) is the place where the world’s economic, social and environmental
challenges are discussed and debated, and policy recommendations issued.
The Trusteeship Council was established to provide international supervision for 11
Trust Territories and to make sure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the
Territories for self-government or independence.
The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
The Court is charged with settling legal disputes between States and giving advisory
opinions to the United Nations and its specialized agencies.
The UN Secretariat, consisting of staff representing all nationalities working in duty
stations all over the world, carries out the day-to-day work of the Organization. The
Secretariat services the other principal organs of the United Nations and administers the
programmes and policies established by them.

7. What are the subsidiary bodies of the UN General Assembly?

The United Nations Human Rights Council is a United Nations body whose mission is
to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members
elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The headquarters of
the Council are at the United Nations Office at Geneva in Switzerland.
The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping
develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for
their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA) every five years.
The United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC) is a United Nations
commission under the United Nations General Assembly which primarily deals with
issues relating to Disarmament.

8. Distinguish Human Rights Council from Human Rights Committee

The UN Human Rights Committee should not be confused with the more high-profile
UN Human Rights Council (HRC), or the predecessor of the HRC, the UN
Commission on Human Rights. Whereas the Human Rights Council (since June 2006)
and the Commission on Human Rights (before that date) are UN political bodies:
composed of states, established by a UN General Assembly resolution and the UN
Charter, and discussing the entire range of human rights concerns; the Human Rights
Committee is a UN expert body: composed of persons, established by the ICCPR, and
discussing matters pertaining only to that treaty.
The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations
system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights
around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and
making recommendations on them.
9. What are the breakthroughs of the UN Human Rights Council?
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process through which all UN Member States
are provided the opportunity to review the human rights records of all other Member
States.
On 18 June 2007, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 5/1 entitled
“Institution-Building of the United Nations Human Rights Council” by which a new
complaint procedure was established to address consistent patterns of gross and
reliably attested violations of all human rights and all fundamental freedoms occurring
in any part of the world and under any circumstances.