United Nations - Essay Example

International Law After the end of the World war one, the League of Nations was formed by the great and victorious powers who participated in the war. The goal was simple, not to allow another war in the future. Due to the failure of the Versailles treaty, all were looking for another organization which could bring stability to the world. The organization had success in solving conflicts between different countries namely The Aaland island issue between Sweden and Finland, Upper Silesia problem between Germany and Poland, The Memel problem of 1923 in Lithuania, humanitarian crisis in Turkey, conflict Between Greece and Bulgaria etc. however the organization faced failures also they were the crisis in Italy in 1919, Teschen problem between Poland and Czechoslovakia, the Vilna conflict between Russia and Lithuania, the war between Russia and Poland in 1921, the invasion of the Ruhr, conflict between Italy and Albania etc are few of them (League of Nations, n.d) The year 1970 was an important year in the history of the world as far as relations between countries were concerned. Many important changes occurred in Europe as well as in Asia. The concept of Third World got prominence during this period. The erstwhile Soviet Union, which was a great super power during that period, took initiatives for setting up an international jurisdiction with the cooperation of other countries. G.I. Tunkin a renowned soviet jurist was credited for formulating the first volume of international law in 1970. the law was made by him based on the events took placed internationally since 1917. The main highlights of the law were the nature of legal relationships among socialist countries, principal factors at work in international politics, legal nature of international organizations, international law, foreign policy, diplomacy etc (Tunkin, G.I. n.d) After the failure of the league of nations, a new organization was formed by the world powers after the second world war ,which came to be known as the United Nations established in the year oct24,1945 (Charter of the United Nations, n.d). The general assembly of the United Nations was established in the year 1945, the main objective of the assembly was to become a major policy making establishment of the UN. The general assembly consists of 192 member countries. Normally meeting sessions are generally conducted in between September and December every year (Functions and Powers of the General Assembly. (n.d). The International Security Council, another r prominent arm of the UN comprises of five permanent members. They are US, China, Russia, France, and the UK. It also has ten non permanent members having a term of one year. There is a president of the Security Council who is selected among the member countries holding the office for one calendar month (About the Council. (n.d)). The international court of justice established in 1946 is another important establishment of the UN. The main aim of the ICJ is to look after the judicial matters globally. It is situated in The Hague, Netherlands. The main activity of the court is to settle dispute submitted by member countries as well as to provide advices (International Court of Justice, n.d) East Timor was a small country neighbouring Indonesia under Portuguese occupancy in the year 1975 Indonesian forces attacked the region and annexed it. The conflict forced the Portuguese to withdraw from East Timor on the condition that East Timor should remain a self governing region. In 1991, the Portuguese authorities went to the court against Australia on the reason that Australia and Indonesia had a treaty between them for the exploitation of "Timor gap". The complainant claimed that the actions of Australia for exploration were against the self governing rights as well as other rights of the people of East Timor. The Portuguese authorities also claimed that the treaty between Australia and Indonesia was against the administering rights of Portugal in the area. The ICJ did not entertain jurisdiction in this matter because of the reason that a judgement on this case would be against the common and well established principle of the ICJ, stating that it can intervene only with the consent of a state in its jurisdiction. In this context it is also worth to note that the ICJ stressed towards the two countries that East Timor region should be considered as a non self governing territory. It observed that the people of the region should be given the absolute right of self determination (Australian Journal of Human Rights (n.d)). The Montevideo convention was organized in the year December 26 1933 on the subject of rights and duties of states. The rules and policies framed in the convention came to force in 26 December 1934. The convention was signed by 19 states except Bolivia. It was formed as a diplomatic tactic of the then US president Roosevelt to remove the misconception of Yankee imperialism (Montevideo Convention on the Right and Duties of States (n.d)). UNESCO also known as United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization was founded in the year 1945. The main objectives of this organization are to bring cultural, educational and scientific enlightenment among member countries. The organization takes special efforts to promote culture, educational values, human friendly scientific policies among its 193 member countries and six associate members. The UNHCR was formed in the year 1950; its main goal was to look after refugee problem all around the world. The primary purpose of the organization is protect and safeguard the interest of refugees (The UN Refugee Agency. (n.d)). The WHP was established in the year 1963 on an experimental basis and started its permanent operation in 1965 under the supervision of the UN. The organization consists of 36 member states and is governed by an executive secretary appointed by the secretary general. The main objectives of this organization are to eradicate hunger and malnutrition (World Food Program, n.d). The organization Greenpeace was formed in the year 1971 with the objective to serve and protect the world environment. The vision of the organization is to create a green and peaceful world. It was founded in Canada by some nature activists and gained global recognition through their selfless action to protect the world environment (The history of Greenpeace. (n.d)). The WHO is an organization formed by the UN for promoting and managing the health system facilities among the member countries. It provides technical support as well as coordinates health efforts (About WHO, n.d) World trade organisation, an associate of the UN was formed to solve the problems among member countries with respect to trade. It is a place for the member countries to settle their trade problems and to find amicable solutions (What is the World Trade Organisation. (n.d)). The advantages of international law are the freedom to choose neutral decision maker, speed, cost factor, confidentiality, ability to select place of arbitration etc. The disadvantages are the plenty of time spent by arbitrators, arbitrations is lengthy, disputes are complex, interference in court proceedings etc.( Proskauer on International Litigation and Dispute Resolution, n.d). The ICC was formed as per a treaty signed by 106 countries, for fighting international criminal offences in a suitable manner. It is regarded as a court of last resort because it will not entertain proceedings until it is felt that the case has not handed fairly by its parent court (About the Court, n.d). Reference About the Council. (n.d). Available: http://www.un.org/sc/members.asp. Accessed: August 10, 2008. About the Court. (n.d). Available: http://www.icc-cpi.int/about.html. Accessed: August 10, 2008. About UNESCO. (n.d). Available: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3328&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Accessed: August 10, 2008. About WHO.(n.d). Available: http://www.who.int/about/en/. Accessed: August 10, 2008. Australian Journal of Human Rights (n.d). Available: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AJHR/1999/4.html. Accessed: August 10, 2008. Charter of the United Nations. (n.d). Available: http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/. Accessed: August 10, 2008. Functions and Powers of the General Assembly. (n.d). Available: http://www.un.org/ga/about/background.shtml. Accessed: August 10, 2008. International Court of Justice (n.d). Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Court_of_Justice. Accessed: August 10, 2008. League of nations. (n.d). Available: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/leagueofnations.htm. Accessed: August 10, 2008. Montevideo Convention on the Right and Duties of States (n.d).Available: http://www.molossia.org/montevideo.html. Accessed: August 10, 2008. Proskauer on International Litigation and Dispute Resolution. (n.d). Available: http://www.proskauerguide.com/arbitration/19/I. Accessed: August 10, 2008. The history of Greenpeace. (n.d).Available: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/history. Accessed: August 10, 2008. The UN Refugee Agency. (n.d). Available: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home. Accessed: August 10, 2008. Tunkin, G.I. (n.d). Theory of International Law (online), Available: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/TUNTHE.html. Accessed: August 10, 2008. What is the World Trade Organisation. (n.d). Available: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact1_e.htm. Accessed: August 10, 2008. World Food Program. (n.d). Available: http://www.wfp.org/english/. Accessed: August 10, 2008. Read More