Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations (1949)

Court Name – International Court of Justice

Citation – 1949 I.C.J. 174

Facts:

In September 1948 Count Folke Bernadotte and other members of the United
Nations Mission to Palestine were allegedly assassinated by the then Israeli
Government in Jerusalem. Mr. Bernadotte was an agent of the United Nations and
the United Nations Mediator in Palestine. He along with other members of the
United Nations were assassinated during the performance of their duties for the
organisation. Later the UN General Assembly’s question concerning reparation
(compensation) for injuries suffered in the service of the United Nations was
referred to the ICJ. (Resolution of the General Assembly dated December 3rd,
1948).

Issues:

1. Whether the United Nations had the capacity to bring an international claim
against the State responsible with a view to obtaining reparation for damage
caused to the Organisation and to the victim?
2. In what manner the action taken by the United Nations could be reconciled
with such rights as might be possessed by the State of which the victim was
a national?
Reasoning Behind Decision

● The United Nations as an organization has been given ‘international

personality’ due to the fact that without legal personhood it cannot
fulfill its main purposes and aims, which are conferred upon it by the
UN Charter.
● The Organisation has the capacity to present a claim in the
circumstances referred to, on the basis of the breach by the defendant
State of an obligation towards the Organisation itself.
● Moreover, the Organisation possesses rights and obligations imposed
upon it by the UN Charter. These rights and duties are different from
those of its member states. Although the right is not expressly stated
in the UN Charter, the UN has been given the right to claim
reparation for injuries suffered in the services because it is essential
to the discharge of its functions.

Analysis

According to Article 1 of the UN Charter, the UN has the following aims to fulfill:

1. To maintain international peace and security;

2. To encourage international cooperation in the spheres of social,
economic and cultural development;
3. To develop friendly relations amongst nations on the principle of
equal rights and self-determination;
4. To recognize the fundamental rights of all people.

In order to discharge its duties and fulfill its aims the Organisation may be required
to entrust its agents with important missions in troubled parts of the world. In such
cases, it is significant that the agents should receive proper support and protection.
To do so the organisation should have the right to bring a claim before the court.
The claim brought by the UN is not founded on the nationality of the victim but
rather upon his status as an agent of the Organisation, it does not matter whether or
not the State to which the claim is addressed regards him as its own national.

Conclusion

The ICJ in its Advisory Opinion of 11th April 1949 held that “the Organisation
(UN) possessing rights and obligations, has at the same time a large measure of
international personality and the capacity to operate upon an international plane,
although it is certainly not a super-state.”

The Organisation has the capacity to bring an international claim whether or not
the responsible State is a Member of the United Nations. The Court further held
that the Organisation can claim reparation not only in respect of damage caused to
itself but also in respect of damage suffered by the victim or persons entitled
through him.

A conflict between the action of the United Nations and the agent’s national State
may be reconciled depending on the considerations applicable to each particular
case, and upon agreements to be made between the Organisation and individual
States.