The General Assembly
Composition
1. The General Assembly shall consist of
all the Members of the United Nations.
2. Each member shall have not more than
five representatives in the General Assembly.
Functions and Powers
The General Assembly may discuss any
questions or any matters within the scope of the present
Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any organs
provided for in the present Charter, and, except as provided
in Article 12, may make recommendations to the Members of the
United Nations or to the Security Council or to both on any
such questions or matters.
1. The General Assembly may consider the
general principles of cooperation in the maintenance of
international peace and security, including the principles
governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments, and
may make recommendations with regard to such principles to
the Members or to the Security Council or to both.
2. The General Assembly may discuss any
questions relating to the maintenance of international peace
and security brought before it by any Member of the United
Nations, or by the Security Council, or by a state which is
not a Member of the United Nations in accordance with Article
35, paragraph 2, and, except as provided in Article 12, may
make recommendations with regard to any such questions to the
state or states concerned or to the Security Council or to
both. Any such question on which action is necessary shall be
referred to the Security Council by the General Assembly
either before or after discussion.
3. The General Assembly may call the
attention of the Security Council to situations which are
likely to endanger international peace and security.
4. The powers of the General Assembly set
forth in this Article shall not limit the general scope of
Article 10.
1. While the Security Council is
exercising in respect of any dispute or situation the
functions assigned to it in the present Charter, the General
Assembly shall not make any recommendation with regard to
that dispute or situation unless the Security Council so
requests.
2. The Secretary-General, with the consent
of the Security Council, shall notify the General Assembly at
each session of any matters relative to the maintenance of
international peace and security which are being dealt with
by the Security Council and shall similarly notify the
General Assembly, or the Members of the United Nations if the
General Assembly is not in session, immediately the Security
Council ceases to deal with such matters.
1. The General Assembly shall initiate
studies and make recommendations for the purpose of:
a. promoting international cooperation
in the political field and encouraging the progressive
development of international law and its codification;
b. promoting international cooperation
in the economic, social, cultural, educational, and
health fields, and assisting in the realization of human
rights and fundamental freedoms for all without
distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.
2. The further responsibilities, functions
and powers of the General Assembly with respect to matters
mentioned in paragraph 1(b) above are set forth in Chapters
IX and X.
Subject to the provisions of Article 12,
the General Assembly may recommend measures for the peaceful
adjustment of any situation, regardless of origin, which it
deems likely to impair the general welfare or friendly
relations among nations, including situations resulting from
a violation of the provisions of the present Charter setting
forth the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations.
1. The General Assembly shall receive and
consider annual and special reports from the Security
Council; these reports shall include an account of the
measures that the Security Council has decided upon or taken
to maintain international peace and security.
2. The General Assembly shall receive and
consider reports from the other organs of the United Nations.
The General Assembly shall perform such
functions with respect to the international trusteeship
system as are assigned to it under Chapters XII and XIII,
including the approval of the trusteeship agreements for
areas not designated as strategic.
1. The General Assembly shall consider and
approve the budget of the Organization.
2. The expenses of the Organization shall
be borne by the Members as apportioned by the General
Assembly.
3. The General Assembly shall consider and
approve any financial and budgetary arrangements with
specialized agencies referred to in Article 57 and shall
examine the administrative budgets of such specialized
agencies with a view to making recommendations to the
agencies concerned.
Voting
1. Each member of the General Assembly
shall have one vote.
2. Decisions of the General Assembly on
important questions shall be made by a two-thirds majority of
the members present and voting. These questions shall
include: recommendations with respect to the maintenance of
international peace and security, the election of the
non-permanent members of the Security Council, the election
of the members of the Economic and Social Council, the
election of members of the Trusteeship Council in accordance
with paragraph 1(c) of Article 86, the admission of new
Members to the United Nations, the suspension of the rights
and privileges of membership, the expulsion of Members,
questions relating to the operation of the trusteeship
system, and budgetary questions.
3. Decisions on other questions,
Composition including the determination of additional
categories of questions to be decided by a two-thirds
majority, shall be made by a majority of the members present
and voting.
A Member of the United Nations which is in
arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the
Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if
the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the
contributions due from it for the preceding two full years.
The General Assembly may, nevertheless, permit such a Member
to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to
conditions beyond the control of the Member.
Procedure
The General Assembly shall meet in regular
annual sessions and in such special sessions as occasion may
require. Special sessions shall be convoked by the
Secretary-General at the request of the Security Council or
of a majority of the Members of the United Nations.
The General Assembly shall adopt its own
rules of procedure. It shall elect its President for each
session.
The General Assembly may establish such
subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance
of its functions.
