Humanelaw

The UN Security Council is one of the charter members of the UNO. The major responsibility of the UN is safeguarding international peace and security. Its powers involve – international sanctions, peace keeping and the authorization for military action. The UNSC exercise its powers through the UNSC resolutions. The session of the council was held at Church House, the United Kingdom on January 17, 1946. The UNSC has 15 members among which consist of veto powers permanent members and 10 members are elected for the term of two years term. It is necessary to be always present in the UN head quarter in New York due to which the members can meet any time whenever needed.

Members: Five permanent members of the UNSC have veto powers which are as follows:

1. The US
2. the UK
3. Russia
4. France
5. China

All the permanent members of the UNSC were nuclear weapon nations, as they had tested their weapons before 1967.
Non Permanent members: 10 members are elected every two years by the UN with the replacement of 5 members every year. The regional groups choose the members and the General Assembly confirm it.

The roles of President of the US are:

To set the agenda,to preside at its meetings and to oversee the crisis. The President may issue both statements as well as notes. The UNSC’s Presidency rotates monthly in alphabetical order among member countries.

Role of the UN:

1. Investigate all situations that are alarming for international peace.
2. Recommend process for peaceful resolution of dispute.
3. Call upon other member countries to participate in economic relations
4. Enforce its decision with the help of any means
5. Maintain cooperation and avoid conflict.

Member nations have agreed to abide by the binding decisions as per charter article 25. Only the Security Council has the power for making binding decisions.   The UN Charter, a multilateral treaty is a constitutional document that divides functions and powers among various UN nations. The UN authorizes the Security Council to take any action on behalf of the UN.
Some members are raising their voices for increasing permanent members of the Security Council. Germany, India, Brazil and Japan are few of the strongest demanding member nations of the UN for increasing permanent members in the Security Council.

India and Brazil are few of the largest contributors of troops to peace keeping missions. This proposal was opposed by some group of countries. Since the United Nations Security Council does not maintain any military forces, the member countries voluntarily provides troops for peacekeeping. The force is also known as “Blue Helmets”. The peacekeeping troops won the Nobel peace Prize in 1988.