Chapter I: UN Charter, structure and system
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Amendments to the Charter The Charter may be amended by a vote of two thirds of the members of the General Assembly and ratification by two thirds of the members of the United Nations, including the five permanent members of the Security Council. So far, four Articles of the Charter have been amended, one of them twice: •• In 1965, the membership of the Security Council was increased from 11 to 15 states (Article 23) and the number of affirmative votes needed for a decision was increased from seven to nine, including the concurring vote of the five permanent members for all matters of substance rather than procedure (Article 27). •• In 1965, the membership of the Economic and Social Council was increased from 18 to 27 states, and again in 1973 to 54 (Article 61). •• In 1968, the number of votes required in the Security Council to convene a General Conference to review the Charter was increased from seven to nine (Article 109).
Membership and official languages Membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving nations that accept the obligations of the Charter and are willing and able to carry out these obligations. The General Assembly admits new member states on the recommendation of the Security Council. The Charter provides for the suspension or expulsion of a member for violation of the principles of the Charter, but no such action has ever been taken. Under the Charter, the official languages of the United Nations are Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Arabic was added as an official language in 1973.
UN structure The Charter establishes six principal organs of the United Nations: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat. The United Nations family, however, is much larger, encompassing 15 specialized agencies and numerous programmes and funds as well as other entities.
General Assembly The General Assembly (www.un.org/ga) is the main deliberative organ of the United Nations. It is composed of representatives of all member states, each of which has one vote. Decisions on important questions (such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters) require a twothirds majority. Decisions on other questions take place by simple majority.
Functions and powers Under the Charter, the functions and powers of the General Assembly include: •• considering and making recommendations on the principles of cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and arms regulation;