3.4 Principal Organs of the United Nations

3.4.1 UN General Assembly Structure: the all-members plenary — one state, one vote; the annual regular session (September's general debate), special and emergency special sessions; the President, the seven Main Committees (disarmament, economic, social, budget, administrative, legal). Voting (Article 18): simple majority for ordinary questions; two-thirds of members present and voting for "important questions" (peace-and-security recommendations, admissions, suspension/expulsion, trusteeship, budget). Functions: discussion-and-recommendation on any Charter matter (Article 10); the deliberative initiative (the studies, the declarations — the UDHR 1948 — the treaty- drafting platform); organizational (admissions on SC recommendation; the non-permanent SC seats and the HRC's election; appointing the Secretary-General on SC recommendation); budgetary (the budget's approval, the scales of assessment); the subsidiary organs (UNDP, UNEP, the Human Rights Council). The limits: recommendations bind no one ("the world's town-hall"); the SC's primacy in enforcement — with the Uniting for Peace practice (the GA's step-in where the SC is deadlocked). 3.4.2 UN Security Council Structure: fifteen — five permanent (China, France, Russia, the UK, the US) and ten non-permanent (two-year non-consecutive terms, elected by the GA with equitable geographical distribution). Voting (Article 27): nine affirmative of fifteen; substantive matters including the P5's concurring votes — the veto (the abstention-is-not-veto practice). Functions — the enforcement heart: primary responsibility for international peace and security (Article 24); Chapter VI peaceful-settlement recommendations; Chapter VII: the…