Understanding the UN Charter: Principles and Key Concepts
Key Principles of the UN Charter
Unique to the Charter principles: They refer to the Charter and World Organizations.
- Assistance (Art. 2.5 of the Charter of the United Nations): Members of the Organization must give it every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with this Charter, and refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
Regulates the relationship between Member States and the Organization of the United Nations. It is the result of Article 2.2.
- Authority (Article 2.6 of the Charter of the United Nations): The Organization shall ensure that States not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as necessary to maintain international peace and security.
Regulates the relationship between Member States with non-members.
- Subsidiarity (Art. 2.7 of the Charter of the United Nations): Nothing in this Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this does not preclude the application of enforcement measures under Chapter VII.
Establishes restrictions on the UN in the internal affairs of a state.
The principle of jurisdiction between the internal powers of the state is like the principle of subsidiarity. The subsidiarity principle means:
- Exclusive jurisdiction of the State.
- The UN should not intervene in matters that are only within a State; the history of this principle is the French doctrine of Domaine réservé.
- It is a limitation of the UN; it is a boundary between domestic law and international law.
- Limitation of UN intervention to a State or group of States (Vertical Value)
Principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of another state:
Non-intervention in the internal affairs of a State or group of States by another (horizontal relationships).
Right and duty of cooperation: It is a moral obligation in addition to legal, but legal is moral. It is a very general doctrine.
Self-Determination of Peoples: This principle is universally accepted because colonialism is prohibited in all areas.
- This principle does not go against the territorial integrity of a State.
- Sets the limit of the territorial integrity of a State.
- It is a right of secession (A secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or political entity. Typically, there is a strong motivating factor for withdrawal) that is not recognized because it attempts to keep the peace.
- Those States that agree to show this self-determination of peoples are not told anything; however, those who achieved independence through war are not granted this right.
- It is an anti-colonialist principle.
Human rights: They are mentioned in the Charter of the United Nations (1945) and developed in the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which has the same character as the Charter.
Some Human Rights are recognized in other treaties that protect certain rights or certain people, especially the vulnerable, for example, the International Treaty for the Protection of Child Rights, Convention on the prohibition of genocide, the Convention on Protection of the Rights of Women, etc.
- Are universal and indivisible.
- All states recognize them, but some Muslim countries doubt the universality of human rights.
- There are some protective mechanisms.
- Have been internationalized, as before, their performance depended on the domestic law of each state.
- 1950: European Convention for the emerging European Court of Human Rights (Court of the Council of Europe, not the European Union)
Environment (in 1972, the Stockholm Conference of the United Nations took place, which has resulted in hundreds of conventions):
- 1976: Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean.
- 1992: Rio Convention on the Protection of Biodiversity.
- Kyoto Protocol: Convention against climate change.
Cultural Heritage Convention (UNESCO 1972): Cultural heritage has a different regulation because it has its own developments.
- Intangible Heritage: Includes languages, cultural practices such as public storytellers, art, indigenous languages, etc.