Subsidiary organ of the General Assembly

Subsidiary Organs of the General Assembly

The General Assembly may establish such subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions which is laid down in article 22. The subsidiary organs of the General Assembly are divided into categories: Boards, Commissions, Committees, Councils and Panels, and Working Groups and others. Since the activities and coverage of the subsidiary organs are so vast, we can only take up a few organs for the study such as the following ones.

 

 

 

Commissions

A significant subsidiary body came into force with the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1761 which was passed on 6^thNovember 1962 in response to the racist policies of apartheid established by the South African Government. As a result, the resolution also established the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid known as “Special Committee against Apartheid”. The committee was originally boycotted by the Western nations, because of their disagreement with the aspects of the resolution calling for the boycott of South Africa. Even so, the committee found allies in the West, such as the British-based Anti-Apartheid Movement, through which it could work and lay the ground roots for the eventual acceptance by the Western powers of the need to impose economic sanctions on South Africa to pressure for political changes.

 

In 1952, the General Assembly, by its resolution 502 (VI) of January 1952, created the United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC) under the Security Council with a general mandate on disarmament questions. However, it met only occasionally after 1959. Similarly, establishing the Peace building Commission, resolution 60/180 and resolution 1645 (2005) of 20^thDecember 2005, the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council mandated the Commission to work on some significant issues;

: to propose integrated strategies for post-conflict peace-building and recovery

: to focus on institution-building efforts necessary for recovery from conflict and to lay the foundation for sustainable development;

 

Under the UN General Assembly, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee is one of six committees of the United Nations.  After the dismantling of the trusteeship system resulting from independence being granted to all the trust territories, and the now-limited number of non-self-governing territories, that jurisdiction is insufficient to keep the committee occupied. As a result, it was merged with the Special Political Committee to deal with certain political issues after the General Assembly found that the First Committee was too busy. This Committee deals with decolonization such as that of Palestinian refugees and human rights, peacekeeping, mine action, outer space, and also including public information, atomic radiation and the University for Peace.

 

Special and Emergency Special Sessions

The GA sessions commence annually in September with two weeks of open debate in which many world leaders take the opportunity to address the body directly. General Assembly can also be called into emergency and special session at the request of the UN Security Council or a majority of Member States. Memorable extra sessions include an emergency session that was held in 1950 on the issue of North and South Korea and two recent special sessions that were held to adopt the Millennium Development Declaration in 2000 and to set a UN reform agenda in 2005.

 

The power enjoyed by the Assembly is unique in the sense that it can also take action in cases of a threat to the peace, breach of peace or act of aggression, when the Security Council has failed to act owing to the negative vote of a permanent member. According to its “Uniting for Peace” resolution of November 1950 (resolution 377 (V), the Assembly may consider the matter immediately and recommend to its Members collective measures to maintain or restore international peace and security. The United Nations Charter (Chapter IV, article 20) provides for the General Assembly to meet in special sessions. Under the resolution 377A (V), “Uniting for peace”, adopted by the General Assembly on 3^rd November 1950, an emergency special session can be convened within 24 hours. The adoption read “because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security… the General Assembly shall consider the matter for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force… If not in session at the time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours. Such emergency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the vote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations”.

 

To cite some example when the General Assembly conducted its special sessions, the Assembly conducted a special session convened by the Security Council on the situation in the occupied Arab territories from 29th January to 5th February 1982. In another instance, the Assembly has initiated actions — political, economic, humanitarian, social and legal — which have affected the lives of millions of people throughout the world. One such significant intervention is the Millennium Declaration, adopted in 2000, and the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document reflect the commitment of Member States to reach specific goals to attain peace, security and disarmament along with development and poverty eradication; safeguard human rights and promote the rule of law; protect our common environment; meet the special needs of Africa; and strengthen the United Nations. Among several other cases of interventions, the General Assembly intervened on the illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian Territory.

 

The search for consensus and Rejuvenating of General Assembly

Each of the 193 Member States in the Assembly has one vote. Votes taken on crucial issues such as recommendations on peace and security, the election of Security Council and Economic and Social Council members, and budgetary questions — require a two-thirds majority of Member States, but other questions are decided by simple majority. In recent years, an effort has been made to achieve consensus on issues, rather than deciding by a formal vote which has resulted in the strengthening of support for the Assembly’s decisions. However, the disparity of power between the General Assembly and the Security Council has certainly been a key motivating factor in the General Assembly revitalization debate. Popular phrases like “enhancing the authority and the role of the General Assembly” therefore should be interpreted to mean that the General Assembly’s work should ideally especially from the perspective of the South become as important as that of the Security Council. It would not be wrong to argue that the drafters of the UN Charter had envisioned separate but equally important roles for the General Assembly and Security Council.

 

The General Assembly, on the other hand – according to the most used definition in the revitalization debate is the “chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations”. The main debate on rejuvenation of UN in general and GA in particular has highlighted the issues coming up from the North and the South. Critics argue that the Security Council’s composition is not sufficiently representative of the UN’s current membership, undermining its legitimacy.

 

 

 

Conclusion

Although General Assembly resolutions are non-binding on member states, they often have a dramatic and lasting effect. Perhaps the most famous General Assembly Declaration is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. The declaration of 1948, largely due to the efforts of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the declaration has become the guidebook and fundamental framework for international human rights discourses. Another important action included the United for Peace Resolution passed in 1950 that allowed for police action to protect South Korea from North Korean aggression.

 

More recently, the General Assembly adopted a Millennium Development Declaration calling for improvements in poverty, illiteracy, health, and the environment by 2015. In 2005, the General Assembly passed a resolution for comprehensive reform to make the organization more efficient, transparent, and accountable. It is, thus, true that the General Assembly is a main deliberative body of the UN, as opposed to the Security Council which is small and exclusive with privileged political choices like ‘veto rights’ system. To make the General Assembly more effective, efficient, and relevant, Member States have been discussing the “revitalization” of its work for nearly 17 years.

 

Till date, one crucial challenge that General Assembly confronts is the opposition and mistrust between Member States, especially between the North and the South. The future of General Assembly depends on how such fundamental challenges are resolved to address the international ambitions of member states, particularly those who are still not fully empowered in the realm of UN and global politics. Democratisation of UN in terms of representation and lessening of veto politics in UN operational ethos can provide a better organisation of General Assembly and United Nations’ Organisation.