Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization

A/RES/64/115View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 82 Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization, published in 2010.

What other versions does this mandate have?

49 versions · 1977–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/166

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/166	Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization	1,978	87%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/125	Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization	1,923	86%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/111	Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization	1,951	85%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/109	Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization	1,916	85%Compare
2021	A/RES/76/115	Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization	1,933	88%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

42 reports · 2000–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/206	Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/80/166
2025	A/80/210	Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/125
2025	A/80/151	Implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to 3rd States affected by the application of sanctions report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/125
2024	A/79/188	Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/111
2023	A/78/296	Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs and Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/109

What subjects does this mandate have?

9 subjects

Advisory Opinions Dispute Settlement Documents International Security Publications Sanctions Sanctions Compliance Technical Cooperation Trust Funds

What’s in this document?

22 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization;Error: Reference source not found

Takes note also of the document entitled “Introduction and implementation of sanctions imposed by the United Nations” as set out in the annex to the present resolution;

Decides that the Special Committee shall hold its next session from 1 to 9 March 2010;

Requests the Special Committee, at its session in 2010, in accordance with paragraph 5 of General Assembly resolution 50/52 of 11 December 1995:

To continue its consideration of all proposals concerning the question of the maintenance of international peace and security in all its aspects in order to strengthen the role of the United Nations, and, in this context, to consider other proposals relating to the maintenance of international peace and security already submitted or which may be submitted to the Special Committee at its session in 2010;

To continue to consider, on a priority basis and in an appropriate substantive manner and framework, the question of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter based on all of the related reports of the Secretary-General⁸ and the proposals submitted on the question;

⁸A/48/573-S/26705, A/49/356, A/50/60-S/1995/1, A/50/361, A/50/423, A/51/317, A/52/308, A/53/312, A/54/383 and Add.1, A/55/295 and Add.1, A/56/303, A/57/165 and Add.1, A/58/346, A/59/334, A/60/320, A/61/304, A/62/206 and Corr.1, A/63/224 and A/64/225.

To keep on its agenda the question of the peaceful settlement of disputes between States;

To consider, as appropriate, any proposal referred to it by the General Assembly in the implementation of the decisions of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the sixtieth session of the Assembly in September 2005 that concern the Charter and any amendments thereto;

To continue to consider, on a priority basis, ways and means of improving its working methods and enhancing its efficiency with a view to identifying widely acceptable measures for future implementation;

Invites the Special Committee at its session in 2010 to continue to identify new subjects for consideration in its future work with a view to contributing to the revitalization of the work of the United Nations;

Notes the readiness of the Special Committee to provide, within its mandate, such assistance as may be sought at the request of other subsidiary bodies of the General Assembly in relation to any issues before them;

Requests the Special Committee to submit a report on its work to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session;

Recognizes the important role of the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, in adjudicating disputes among States and the value of its work, as well as the importance of having recourse to the Court in the peaceful settlement of disputes, takes note, consistent with Article 96 of the Charter, of the Court’s advisory jurisdiction that may be requested by the General Assembly, the Security Council or other authorized organs of the United Nations and the specialized agencies, and requests the Secretary-General to distribute, in due course, the advisory opinions requested by the principal organs of the United Nations as official documents of the United Nations;

Commends the Secretary-General for the progress made in the preparation of studies of the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs, including the increased use of the internship programme of the United Nations and further expanded cooperation with academic institutions for this purpose, as well as the progress made towards updating the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council;

Notes with appreciation the contributions made by Member States to the trust fund for the updating of the Repertoire, as well as the trust fund for the elimination of the backlog in the Repertory;

Reiterates its call for voluntary contributions to the trust fund for the updating of the Repertoire; voluntary contributions to the trust fund for the elimination of the backlog in the Repertory so as to further support the Secretariat in carrying out the effective elimination of that backlog; as well as the sponsoring, on a voluntary basis, and with no cost to the United Nations, of associate experts to assist in the updating of the two publications;

Calls upon the Secretary-General to continue his efforts towards updating the two publications and making them available electronically in all their respective language versions;

Reiterates the responsibility of the Secretary-General for the quality of the Repertory and the Repertoire, and with regard to the Repertoire, calls upon the Secretary-General to continue to follow the modalities outlined in paragraphs 102 to 106 of the report of the Secretary-General of 18 September 1952;⁹

⁹A/2170.

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on both the Repertory and the Repertoire to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to brief the Special Committee at its next session on the information referred to in paragraph 11 of his report on the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions;¹⁰

¹⁰A/64/225.

Further requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session, under the item entitled “Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization”;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fifth session the item entitled “Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization”.

Introduction and implementation of sanctions imposed by the United Nations

General issues

Sanctions remain an important tool under the Charter of the United Nations in efforts to maintain international peace and security without recourse to the use of force. Sanctions should be carefully targeted in support of clear and legitimate objectives under the Charter and be implemented in ways that balance effectiveness to achieve the desired results against possible adverse consequences, including socio-economic and humanitarian consequences, for populations and third States.

The purpose of sanctions is to modify the behaviour of the target State, party, individual or entity threatening international peace and security and not to punish or otherwise exact retribution. Sanctions regimes should be commensurate with these objectives.

Sanctions may be resorted to by the Security Council when it determines the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression. The Security Council should be guided by the approach taken in annex II to General Assembly resolution 51/242, where it is indicated that sanctions should be resorted to only with the utmost caution, when other peaceful options provided by the Charter are inadequate. The reasons that necessitate the imposition of sanctions should be identified and stated in advance.

The Security Council should introduce sanctions in conformity with the provisions of the Charter, taking into account other applicable rules of international law, in particular all of those related to human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Best practices and guidelines adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly in the field of sanctions, in particular those contained in the 2005 World Summit Outcome, General Assembly resolution 51/242 and Security Council resolutions 1730 (2006), 1735 (2006) and 1822 (2008), should be taken into account in the elaboration and implementation of sanctions regimes. The best practices and methods contained in the report of the Informal Working Group of the Security Council on General Issues of Sanctions (S/2006/997), as taken note of in Security Council resolution 1732 (2006), might also be considered for these purposes.

Sanctions should be implemented and monitored effectively with clear benchmarks and should, as appropriate, have an expiration date or be periodically reviewed with a view to lifting them or not, or to adjusting them, taking into account the humanitarian situation and depending on the fulfilment by the target State and other parties of the requirements of the Security Council. Sanctions should remain in place for as limited a period as necessary to achieve their objectives and be lifted once their objectives have been achieved.

Sanctions regimes with regard to individuals and entities should ensure that the decision to list such individuals and entities is based on fair and clear procedures, including, as appropriate, a detailed statement of case provided by Member States, and that regular reviews of names on the list are conducted; ensure, to the degree possible, maximum specificity in identifying individuals and entities to be targeted; and ensure also that fair and clear procedures for de-listing exist early in sanctions regimes. Listed individuals and entities should be notified of the decision and of as much detail as possible in the publicly releasable portion of the statement of case. There should be an appropriate mechanism for handling individuals’ or entities’ requests for de-listing.

Unintended side effects of sanctions

Sanctions should avoid to the extent possible adverse humanitarian effects or unintended consequences for individuals and entities not targeted or third States. Targeted sanctions are a way of achieving this.

An objective assessment of the short-term and long-term socio-economic and humanitarian consequences of sanctions should be conducted by the Security Council and its sanctions committees with the assistance of the Secretariat at the stage of their preparation, as appropriate, and in the course of their implementation. In this regard, the methodology for the assessment of the humanitarian implications of sanctions reflected in the Sanctions Assessment Handbook (2004) might be useful.

Information on the humanitarian consequences of the introduction and implementation of sanctions, including those which have a bearing on the basic living conditions of the civilian population of the target State, on its socio-economic development and on third States which have suffered or may suffer as a result of their implementation, may be useful for the Security Council and its sanctions committees to consider.

To the maximum extent possible, situations in which the consequences of the introduction of sanctions would inflict considerable material and financial harm on third States or in which the civilian population in the target State or third States would experience considerable adverse consequences should be avoided.

Humanitarian and other exemptions should be made available in a consistent manner to all targeted measures such as arms embargoes, travel restrictions, aviation bans and financial sanctions, and considered in accordance with fair and clear procedures.

Efforts should be made to ensure that sanctions regimes do not hinder an adequate supply of humanitarian assistance from reaching the civilian population. Targeted States and parties should cooperate to this end. Essential humanitarian assistance should be considered for exemption by the relevant United Nations bodies, including the sanctions committees.

The principles of neutrality, independence, transparency, impartiality and non discrimination should guide the provision of humanitarian and medical assistance and other forms of humanitarian support for all sectors and groups of the civilian population.

Humanitarian and medical assistance and other forms of humanitarian support for all sectors and groups of the civilian population should not be provided without the consent of the recipient State or a request on its part.

In emergency situations and cases of force majeure (natural disasters, threat of famine, mass disturbances resulting in the disorganization of the country’s Government), consideration should be given to the suspension of sanctions in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster. A decision on this must be taken in each specific case.

Decisions on sanctions should be in accordance with the purposes and principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations. Sanctions regimes should be designed to avoid unintended consequences in the target State or third States which may lead to violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Implementation

Sanctions should be implemented in good faith by all States.

Monitoring and compliance are first and foremost the responsibility of individual Member States. Member States should endeavour to prevent or correct activities in violation of the sanctions measures within their jurisdiction. In this regard the provisions of the report of the Informal Working Group of the Security Council on General Issues of Sanctions (S/2006/997) should be taken into account, as appropriate.

International monitoring by the Security Council or by one of its subsidiary organs of compliance with sanctions measures, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions, can contribute to the effectiveness of United Nations sanctions. States that may require assistance in the implementation and monitoring of sanctions may seek the assistance of the United Nations or relevant regional organizations and donors.

States and relevant international and regional organizations with the capacity to do so should be encouraged to offer appropriate technical and financial assistance to other States to enhance their capacity to implement sanctions effectively.

States should be encouraged to cooperate in exchanging information about the legislative, administrative and practical implementation of sanctions.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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