Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, General; The United Nations, Volume I

IO Files: US/A/C.1/134

United States Delegation¹ Position Paper²

confidential

[New York,] September 11, 1947.

General Assembly Agenda Items Dealing With Voting in the Security Council³

the problem

The problem is to determine the United States position with respect to:

a. Item 24 of the Provisional Agenda for the second session of the General Assembly, inserted at the request of Argentina and calling for “convocation of a general conference under Article 109 of the Charter to abolish the privilege of the veto”.

b. Item 3 of the supplementary list of agenda items for the second session of the General Assembly inserted at the request of Australia which reads as follows: “The resolution of the second part of the first session of the General Assembly in relation to the exercise of the veto in the Security Council and the extent to which the recommendations contained in that resolution have been carried out.”

c. Any other item which may appear on the General Assembly agenda dealing with the subject of voting in the Security Council.

recommendations

1. The United States should early in the debate state its belief, based on experience to date, that the abuse of the rule requiring unanimity of the permanent members of the Security Council in non-procedural decisions is preventing the Council from meeting its responsibilities under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security. This is especially true in cases arising under Chapter VI and in the admission of new members.

2. The United States has concluded that the most practicable method for improving this situation is a liberalization of the voting procedure in the Security Council. As one means of attaining this objective the United States is ready to support improvement through interpretation consistent with the Charter, but not necessarily limited by the Four Power Statement made at San Francisco.⁴ As another means it would be willing to accept the elimination of the unanimity requirement with reference to (a) matters arising under Chapter VI of the Charter; (b) applications for membership in the United Nations; (c) the election of a Secretary-General. The United States would oppose the elimination or limitation of the unanimity requirement in decisions under Chapter VII or in decisions to amend the Charter.

3. In view of the fundamental importance of this matter the United States considers that any proposals designed to accomplish the objective of liberalization of the Security Council voting procedure, including possible amendment of the Charter, should be preceded by a careful study.

4. The Delegation should propose or support the establishment of a committee of the General Assembly to carry out the study proposed in paragraph 3. The Committee should meet promptly after the adjournment of the General Assembly and should report its findings and recommendations to the next regular session or to a special session if in its opinion a situation arises of such urgency as to warrant its recommending to the members the calling of a special session for that purpose. The terms of reference of the Committee should exclude recommendations eliminating limiting the rule of unanimity in decisions under Chapter VII and in decisions to amend the Charter. It would be preferable if this restriction could be brought about on the initiative of other Delegations. In the event of the establishment of an interim committee on peace and security by the General Assembly, it would be appropriate for such a committee to undertake this study. Otherwise, a separate committee should be established.

5. The Delegation should make it clear that it considers the above procedure preferable to a General Conference under Article 109. It gives promise of attaining the desired result without the disturbance to the basic fabric of the Charter inherent in the calling of a General Conference at this time.

6. The Delegation should state the view of the United States that measures should be pressed concurrently in the Security Council to bring about improvement within the existing provisions of the Charter through revisions of or additions to the rules of procedure. The action recently inaugurated by the United States was intended as a step in that direction.

1. For information regarding the composition and organization of the US. Delegation to the Second Session of the General Assembly (due to convene on September 16), see pp. 3–13.
2. This was also Department of State Position Paper SD/A/C.1/87, Revision 1.
3. For previous documentation regarding the question of voting in the Security Council, see Foreign Relations, 1946, vol. i, pp. 251 ff.
4. For the Statement by the Delegations of the Four Sponsoring Governments and France on Voting Procedure in the Security Council, June 7, 1945, issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, and France, see Department of State Bulletin, June 10, 1945, p. 1047; for documentation regarding the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco, April 25–June 26, 1945, see Foreign Relations, 1945, vol. i, pp. 1 ff.